I Corinthians 9:24-27, 10:1-14
9:24 Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize.
You also must run in such a way that you will win. 25 All athletes practice
strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we
do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run straight to the goal with purpose
in every step. I am not like a boxer who misses his punches. 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.
10:1 I don't want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, what happened
to our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. God guided all of them by sending
a cloud that moved along ahead of them, and he brought them all safely through
the waters of the sea on dry ground. 2 As followers of Moses, they were all
baptized in the cloud and the sea. 3 And all of them ate the same miraculous
food, 4 and all of them drank the same miraculous water. For they all drank
from the miraculous rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ.
5 Yet after all this, God was not pleased with most of them, and he destroyed
them in the wilderness. 6 These events happened as a warning to us, so that
we would not crave evil things as they did 7 or worship idols as some of them
did. For the Scriptures say, "The people celebrated with feasting and
drinking, and they indulged themselves in pagan revelry." 8 And we must
not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them
to die in one day. 9 Nor should we put Christ* to the test, as some of them
did and then died from snakebites.10 And don't grumble as some of them did,
for that is why God sent his angel of death to destroy them.11 All these events
happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us, who
live at the time when this age is drawing to a close.12 If you think you are
standing strong, be careful, for you, too, may fall into the same sin.13 But
remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from
what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from
becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted,
he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.14 So, my dear
friends, flee from the worship of idols.
Run With . . .
Discipline
The Future in Mind
Run From. . .
21st Century Idols
Sexual Immorality
Putting Christ to the Test
Grumbling! (10:10)
Run To God . . .
Who isn't picking on you.
Who is Faithful
Who always provides a way of escape
