If your home was on fire and someone shouted, “Run for your life!” you would not stop to ask questions about things that didn’t matter like what was for dinner. Nor would you refuse to leave until you found that biology notebook from high school or stroll leisurely past the fridge to check if you needed to buy milk while you were out. No, “Run for your life!” means that you are singularly focused on the goal of getting to safety. And, unless it is to warn someone else who has not yet heard of the danger, you would not stop for anything.
Spiritually speaking, you must “run for your life!”
I. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20. The first running we must do is running away from sin, specifically sexual immorality. Joseph certainly had opportunity to give in to Potiphar’s wife and reason enough to justify sin: his own brothers had faked his death and sold him into slavery in a foreign land. But, he determined, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” Then, as she caught him by his cloak, he left it with her and ran out of the house (Genesis 39:6-12). So we must run for our lives!
II. Galatians 5:7-10. Distractions come often from people or circumstances in our lives. A runner may start off well and then discover a rock in his shoe or have someone point him the wrong way. In the Galatian church(es), some were insisting that they needed to observe the old law and become Jews before they could become Christians. There are many things that may not be sinful but “cut in” on our good race. Sometimes it is people or ideas that point us away from God. Remember that we are running for our lives!
III. Hebrews 12:1-3. To “run with perseverance the race marked out for us,” we must have the goal of heaven ever before us. We are told to fix our eyes on Jesus, who kept the joy of eternity with the Father in view in order to endure the cross, so that we “do not grow weary and lose heart.” Peter had the courage to step out of the boat and walk on the water to Jesus, but as soon as he let his focus slip, he sank (Matthew 14:25-33). With perseverance and eyes fixed, we must run for our lives!
Many struggle with their Christian walk because they do not take the race as seriously as Satan knows it is. Instead of a lion seeking to devour, perhaps he is a lot like the gators beside the race marked out for us. The race is deadly serious. Run for your life!