Daily Devotional For Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Good morning everyone. It is Wednesday and this is the day the Lord has made and we all can rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24). If you have been in the Christian faith for long, you know that it is a race (2 Timothy 4:7. Some finish this race and some quit. There is nothing about the Christian faith that is meant to be easy. The Christian faith was never meant to be easy, never meant to be all stress free. I have been a daily runner for some 40 years. There were days I was excited and thrilled to run and days I did not feel that way, but I made myself run anyway. It takes perseverance and determination to stay in this race.
Paul’s statement in 2 Timothy 4:7 is based on his own call to the young Timothy to fight the good fight and finish this race of the Christian life. We see Paul’s appeal to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:12. To Paul, the fight had been worth it and he was about to finish his race in it. Never does Paul say he won the race; he says he finished it. Every marathon runner knows that running 26.2 gruelling miles is tough and they are grateful to just cross the finish line. Completing a marathon is an accomplishment in itself. It takes incredible endurance and determination.
To Paul, this marathon called the Christian life and faith, was worth finishing. Paul had kept the faith in two ways: he had not quit from all the persecutions and imprisonments he had endured as an Apostle and second he guarded and preserved the truth of the Gospel by not compromising it, or watering it down. Paul was not blind-sided by the attacks and arrests to his life. In his farewell to the elders in the Ephesian church at the end of his third missionary journey (prior to heading to possible imprisonment in Jerusalem), Paul had said this in Acts 20:22-24:
“And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, (23) except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. (24) But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God” (NLT).
Paul is near the end of his life and he knows it. So, he does some reflecting over his life since Christ. Just as a teacher who retires sees the former faces of students he/she has impacted; just like a nurse/doctor sees the faces of former patients they have treated; just like parents at the end of their lives see the faces of their children and grandchildren; just as pastors who finally retire see the faces of members and pray their commitment to the Gospel was never compromised. It is about the legacy that is left behind – what will people actually remember you for after you are gone?
Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:7 that he had “fought” the good “fight.” The Greek New Testament word for both is [ἀγών, agon]. This is where we get our English word “agony.” Athletes and champions know the agony of training and competing. On the day of competition, they agonize to win. There is no “fru-fru” about the Christian life. It is agonizing to run in this race, to finish this race and to win in this race.
Paul is a great example of running in this race, finishing this race and winning this race. And guess who else was? – Jesus. Knowing how His race was going to finish, Jesus did agonize over it. We see this in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed this in Matthew 26:39,42, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine” (NLT). Twice Jesus prayed this. In case you have forgotten, look at the agony Jesus was in Luke 22:44, “And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground” (NASB). Scholars debate this picture here. Some feel that Luke was implying that Jesus’ sweat was so heavy and huge it fell to the ground like drops of blood; others feel it was real drops of blood.
Is it possible to sweat blood? Yes. There is a rare medical condition called hematidrosis. Hematohidrosis is a condition in which capillary blood vessels that feed the sweat glands rupture, causing them to exude blood, occurring under conditions of extreme physical or emotional stress. Either way, Jesus agonized about finishing His race for us. I am so glad He did in one word from the cross.
We see this in John 19:30, “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit” (NASB). “It is finished” is one Greek word – [Τετέλεσται, tetelestai]. I did a whole devotional on this word in a devotion on this word. You can read it here: Tetelestai. Jesus finished His race. Paul finished his race. The question is: Will you and I finish our race for Christ?
Assignment: Reflect for a moment – are you training and preparing for this race? Are you in this race to win like Paul and Jesus? When and how do you agonize over your own race for Christ? Are you even in this race? Being in the race is not synonymous with church attendance. Even the demons show up at church. Do you agonize over your life bringing God glory? Do you agonize over the spiritual legacy you are leaving behind? If you were to die right now, would you have finished well for Christ?
Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! (25) All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. (26) So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. (27) I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Heavenly Father, please help me train and be prepared to run this race. Please help me to finish well for Your glory. I want to leave behind a legacy that impacts others with the Gospel and discipleship. When I die, I want to hear from You these words, “Welcome home, Well done, My good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly