Running the Race With Eternity in View
2:17:45 · Watch on YouTube ↗
These notes - summary, key points, and highlighted thoughts - were generated by AI from the recording and are not the preacher’s exact words.
Summary
Preached on the first day of the new year, this message opens with thanksgiving from Psalm 118 and a call to begin the year by giving thanks and seeking the Lord. The preacher asks a searching question: what is the real purpose of our life, and how will we use the time God gives us this year? Drawing on Ephesians 5, he reminds us that wise people redeem the time, because wasted years can never be brought back.
Looking at the apostle Paul, who endured betrayal, slander, and great suffering yet pressed on, the preacher reveals the secret of a fruitful life: one clear, eternal goal. Like Paul in Philippians 3, we count everything else as loss in order to gain Christ, forgetting what lies behind and pressing toward the prize. "For me to live is Christ" - when He becomes our life, everything else falls into second place and even death turns to gain. Using the picture of a long-distance runner from 1 Corinthians 9, he urges us to run with discipline and finish the course rather than quit at the temptations along the way.
A life lived only on the level of instinct - eating, sleeping, grabbing what it can - leaves nothing worth remembering, but a life aimed at Christ pursues peace and holiness without which no one will see the Lord. The message closes with the parable of an eagle raised among chickens that finally hears the cry of the sky and rises - a picture of hearing the Holy Spirit's call to leave the dust behind and soar toward our heavenly calling.
Key Points
- Begin the new year with thanksgiving and a heart set on seeking God.
- Redeem your time, for wasted years can never be recovered (Ephesians 5:15-16).
- A fruitful life needs one clear, eternal goal, just as Paul's did.
- "For me to live is Christ" - when He is the aim, everything else finds its place.
- Run the race with discipline and finish it, despite the temptations along the way.
- Answer wrong with blessing rather than retaliation, and pursue peace and holiness.
- Hear the Holy Spirit's call to rise above the dust toward your heavenly calling.
Devotional
Ask yourself today what you are truly living for. If your life moves only by instinct - working, eating, resting - the years will slip past with nothing to show for them. But when Christ becomes your goal, the way Paul made Him his, every day gains weight and direction. Like the eaglet that finally looked up and answered the call of the sky, lift your eyes from the dust and press on toward the high calling of God.
For me to live is Christ, and next to knowing Him everything else is loss.
Wasted years cannot be brought back, so redeem the time God gives you.
You were made to soar - stop scratching in the dust with the chickens.
