[notice]A monthly Christian sport column by Cobus Kruger, a professional triathlete who is passionate about evangelism, leadership and community development through sport.[/notice]
Last weekend we saw thousands of people competing in this year’s Comrade’s Marathon. All of them had a goal of some sort and wanted to succeed… Why?
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As human beings we want to be as good as we can be in all the opportunities that the Lord gives us. People always want to succeed in life.
Whether it is a young boy or girl that loves to play a sport, or if it is an Olympic athlete, professional sportsmen, or Comrades runner, they will all have a sense of satisfaction from setting a goal, striving to reach it and succeeding at the end. We want to succeed and grow in whatever we take on to do… Why?
Whether you are a businessmen, an entrepreneur, or just trading your marbles at school, you want to achieve a better deal than you had.
Motivational speakers will give you tools and strategies so that you can succeed in an area of your life.
Coaches will give you a programme to work on your weaknesses and strengths so that you at the end can succeed to reach a better place, position or accomplishment in your game.
Young people that study will wake up early mornings and spend late nights in front of their books so that they can succeed by passing or getting a distinction in their studies.
The same young people will walk into a work situation, work extra hours and spend a lot of time in the office to excel in their work, get a promotion, and then buy a house and provide for their family.
Sports people adopt a disciplined lifestyle. They start to eat the right way at the right times, go to bed early so that they can get all the energy they can to get most out of their bodies so that they can succeed at the end in order to reach the goal at hand.
We see that at the top level in sport that players and athletes go overseas to use their talent to the full to achieve financial success.
Why do we as human beings put all this effort into succeeding???
Parable of The Talents
When we read the parable of The Talents in the Bible in Mathew 25:14- 30, we discover that it is not wrong for believers to use the talents (money, abilities,personalities,etc.) to succeed. But I still want to raise the question: Why?
Why do we need to succeed?
Why did Jesus used this parable of the talents to encourage us to put the gifts, talents and money that he gave us to work?
The answer lies in the following Scripture:
Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,[a]
we wait for you;
your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts (Isaiah 26:8 NIV)
“Your name and renown are the desires of our hard”
Let me explain:
Jesus died on the Cross so that all people can have an intimate relationship with our Father God. So when you accept Jesus in your life, and believe what He did for you on the Cross become a child of God. Go and read John 1:12. Now you are a believer.
His renown
As believer you need to succeed in your money, gifts, and talents, because God wants to use the platform of your life not only for your own benefit, but for His ultimate purpose that Jesus’s name can be renowned!!!!
If Jesus’s name is renowned (i.e. glorified and made famous) through all the success of all the believers in this world, then unbelievers will see and meet Jesus, they will be discipled by other believers and get close in relationship with God, and as they make success in their lives, Jesus will be renowned through their lives too, and in this way the Kingdom of God will grow.
Let’s read in Isaiah 26:8 again:
Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,
we wait for you;
your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts (Isaiah 26:8 NIV)
From this Scripture we see there are three things that we need to have in place so that Jesus’s name can be renowned:
We need to walk in the way of the law. Jesus came to fulfil the law, so we need to walk in the ways of Jesus’s instructions through the Holy Spirit.
We need to wait for God to guide us in our life though our success to see how he wants us to make His name renowned through our talent, gifts and money.(We need to keep the relationship fresh between ourselves and God in this journey of success)
It should be the first desire of our hearts to make Jesus’ name renowned through or success.
So let’s go and live our lives victoriously for the main purpose, to Lift Jesus’ name up, so that more people can join us in Gods Kingdom!
“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Col 3:2
My Program Generator (MPG) fitness training with Cobus Kruger
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