And those who deal with this world [overusing the enjoyments of this life] as though they were not absorbed by it and as if they had no dealings with it. For the outward form of this world (the present world order) is passing away. 1 Cor. 7v31 (AMP)
This discussion placed before us is an all-important matter in our pilgrims’ journey. The heart of every reasonable man upon the face of the earth is fixed on achieving a goal. For this reason, we find everybody running after a pursuit peculiar to them, and they expend all their energy and resources in the pursuit of their goal. It has become almost impossible for people to live in this present world without being absorbed by the pleasure and enjoyment therein. Woe betide a man who sees a crown far off and pursues passionately with zeal despite the challenges to stop him, only to discover that the goal on which so much was invested is chaff. He immediately comes to a pitiable state upon recalling the lost investments on that which is without value. Verily verily I say unto you, such a point is not without regret and tears fuelled by lost time which will never be recovered. We shall expound on this pressing matter by raising few issues as we look into the word of God.
- A Fading Crown
- Triumphing over vanity
- Running to win
A FADING CROWN
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.1 John: 2v16 (KJV)
A fading crown implies a crown that lacks relevance in eternity. It is a perishable honour bestowed upon man by the world. The scripture above reveals that the world has nothing eternal to offer save a putrefying reward and many have been caught in the web chasing these putrefying crowns. The things of the world may be desired and possessed for the uses and purposes which God intended, and they are to be used by his grace, and to his glory; but believers must not seek or value them for those purposes to which sin abuses them. The world draws our heart from God; and the more the love of the world prevails, the more the love of God decays. The things of the world are classed according to the three ruling inclinations of depraved nature
I once spoke to a dear friend of mine confronting her with a question about her plans for her life and she began to talk about getting her university degree, getting married, having children and living a happy life. In all her talking, she never mentioned anything eternal. All her focus has been placed on perishing things of clay. The things of the world quickly fade and die away; desire itself will ere long fail and cease, but holy affection is not like the lust that passes away. The love of God shall never fail. These vanities are so alluring to the corruption in our hearts, that without constant watching and prayer, we cannot escape the world, or obtain victory over the god and prince of it. This world has an appetite that cannot be satisfied, hence, it keeps you running endlessly. The time spent here on earth is not even one-millionth the time spent in eternity so why should I use my few years to chase the perishing things of clay. As we continue to study I would like to ask you a question.
What Is The Object Of Your Pursuit?
In 2001, GSM was introduced in Nigeria; many people did all they can to get phones and so many telecommunication companies made huge earnings through their sales. The best mobile phone at that time will be embarrassing to you now and Even if the phone had so much glory and honour at that time, it is totally useless now. Many ladies sold their bodies to acquire these gadgets which could not find relevance in a few years. Some people joined money rituals to buy the 80’s edition of cars. Where are those cars today? Those cars which were the best and carried so much glory are now used as taxis in third world countries. Believe me beloved, everything which is the object of your pursuit that is not eternal will soon become useless in a few years. Look back at that one thing you want to kill or die for today and see what becomes of it tomorrow. In the pursuit of your goals, remember that the best things in life have been given to us freely by the creator. If it can be bought, it can definitely be replaced! Don’t lose sleep over what can be replaced. Beloved, permit me to ask you a question, what is the object of your pursuit? Can your current pursuit secure a space for you in Heaven? Humbly talk to the Lord!
It will interest you to know that some persons have been arrested by the pursuit of fame and will do everything within their power to achieve that which they chase after. Jesus Christ our master didn’t pursue fame even if He became famous. He was just about the Father’s business and by so doing, His fame spread abroad, but today so many people have taken the fame as a goal to chase after. That’s why you see them speak so loudly about themselves acquiring several titles and worldly award. The god of beauty and fashion has dealt badly with the ladies of our time and they have surrendered totally to pursuing fashion and beauty trends. Do you know that some sisters can hardly go out because their powder is finished? Are you aware that some ladies cannot cope with clothes that aren’t trending? Whenever you encounter them in ceremonies, you will see them taking pictures of the clothes they will like to have. Even in the middle of a religious meeting, they are seriously looking of for who is wearing the slaying dress. When will you be delivered from the claws of this strange god? I wish for you to truly understand that; Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. Eccl: 1v2 (KJV)
Behold, thou hast made my days as an hand-breadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. Ps: 39v5 (KJV)
Every man at his best state is vanity. Maybe your definition of best state is governor, president, world best footballer or miss world. It may even be world best researcher or even most influential professor but believe me, it is all vanity.
Let us consider a scripture as we continue our study.
For Demas has left me. He loved the good things of this life and went to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.2 Tim: 4v10-11 (TLB)
The Bible was written over 2000 years ago and at that time, the best cities of the world were worse than some third world countries in Africa, so what attracted Demas to the world? What were the good things scripture was pointing to? There were no cars, no internet, and no gadgets so please what drew the heart of Demas in such a time? That which drew his heart and got him running away from the faith which he once professed is called vanity. That same vanity may be earnestly wooing you today. Will you allow the pursuit of vanity win the battle over your life?
Is it good to have a first class degree? Is it good to have beautiful cars and houses? The answer to these questions is YES, but they should not be the object of your pursuit. They shouldn’t be what has consumed your energy and where you spend all your resources. I know so many intelligent brethren who have achieved great things in this present world. Some have built nice homes in the most ideal neighbourhoods; others have the slickest cars and the most sophisticated gadgets. Some have written many books to their honour and have their names sounding in the lips of men but they cannot pray for even an hour even if they are Christians. They have never covered their Bible neither won a soul for the Lord, so I am tempted to ask you a question sir/madam, where have you invested your energy? What has eaten up your attention, brother? What has preoccupied your heart, sister? What do you treasure?
I want to make it clear to you that Bible is not against worldly wealth or possessions but against the inordinate focus on those things
TRIUMPING OVER VANITY
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. Matt: 6v20 (KJV)
Jesus was not saying we should abandon our worldly wealth and live poor. He is rather admonishing us not to invest our lives in them. A lot of people pursue money to the point when their personal fellowship altars have been left desolate. They have little or no time to ponder on the word of God because all that their mind thinks about is how to make more money, so they spend most of their time strategizing. Once they kneel in prayers, they quickly remember somebody owing them money and that’s the end of the prayer. They prefer to attend money making seminars than prayer meetings, in fact, if they become leaders in Christian groups, they will turn the assembly of brethren to money chasers. Such passion for money leaves them with no time for evangelism therefore they cannot boast of a soul standing to their record.
First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs! Prov. 30v8-9 (TLB)
Your love and pursuit for mammon will never end until you stop looking for more than enough.
Laying up treasures in heaven means investing in the area of value in the Kingdom of God. It means living your life with eternity as your primary pursuit. It also means living your life here on earth without being absorbed by the pleasures therein. The world in which we live in today has promoted pleasure so much so that whoever is not engrossed and overwhelmed my earthly pleasure is regarded as archaic. So many are trying not to be labelled “archaic” so they have subjected themselves to momentary pleasure at the expense of their unending lifetime in eternity. If you must overcome the pursuit of the fading crown which is now called vanity, you must consider this world and all that is in it as VANITY. You must consider the most beautiful cities and most expensive clothes as VANITY. You must realise that “those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away”. 1 Cor. 7v31 (NIV)
Let us consider the words of our brother in his epistle to the church in Philippines. We will so do in different translations. Phil: 3v7-8
KJV: But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
TLB: But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile-now I’ve thrown them all away so that I can put my trust and hope in Christ alone. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have put aside all else, counting it worth less than nothing, in order that I can have Christ
AMP: But whatever former things I had that might have been gains to me, I have come to consider as [one combined] loss for Christ’s sake. Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One)
Looking into the Bible from the above scripture, everything with a worldly inclination is dung, worthless, mere rubbish. That new car, house or gadget in which you are tirelessly labouring is regarded as dung and mere rubbish. You have been in court for years over a parcel of land that is dung. Why not let go today? If you can deliberately consider the glory of the world as worthless, then you will be delivered from the pursuit of a faded crown.
I will like for us to soberly look at a hymn written by Jane Catherine
- Fade, fade each earthly joy; Jesus is mine.
Break every tender tie; Jesus is mine.
Dark is the wilderness, earth has no resting place,
Jesus alone can bless; Jesus is mine.
- Tempt not my soul away; Jesus is mine.
Here would I ever stay; Jesus is mine.
Perishing things of clay, born but for one brief day,
Pass from my heart away; Jesus is mine.
- Farewell, ye dreams of night; Jesus is mine.
Lost in this dawning bright; Jesus is mine.
All that my soul has tried, left but a dismal void;
Jesus has satisfied; Jesus is mine.
- Farewell, mortality; Jesus is mine.
Welcome, eternity; Jesus is mine.
Welcome, oh loved and blest, welcome, sweet scenes of rest,
Welcome, my Saviour’s breast; Jesus is mine.
This hymn reveals the heart cry of a passionate follower of Christ and one who has taken the pursuit of eternity as a priority. The burden of the writer can be felt all along the lines bringing me to a point of sober reflection and prayers for my own life and eternal pursuit.
Fade fade each earthly joy; Jesus is mine
Break every tender tie; Jesus is mine
When we look at these lines above, it is evident that the joy which the world offers is unimportant because of the pursuit of Jesus Christ. Can you really ask the joy of this world to fade away? Can you freely ask the joy of fornication, masturbation, inordinate affections, pride, deceit, filthy lucre, and many more of these to fade away? Paul the apostle one said “…the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world”. Gal: 6v14 (NKJV). It means he considers the world as dead and the world also considers him as dead. You may have some tender ties and little affiliation with the goods of this world which is revealed in the form of Lust of the flesh, Lust of the eyes and Pride of life. I will like you to raise a prayer to God now saying, “Lord, deliver me from every tender tie”
I have personally let go of the perishing things of clay to pass from my heart away. Perishing things of clay are all those bogus desires of your heart that does not fit into Gods plan for you. Perishing things of clay are those things that won’t accompany your soul to eternity, to wit; they expire here on earth. If your heart has been fixed on perishing things of clay, you will struggle in your journey as every spiritual activity will become as a burden to you. Sometime ago, I attended a money seminar where the preacher talked about how we should desire that God gives us big cars and private jets. I was not excited as others were because truly speaking, I don’t desire them. As I opened my mouth to pray in that meeting about my own desire, my lips were moving towards the unfading crown preserved for us in heaven and how to run my pilgrims journey so as to meet face to face with the glorious inheritance. Take your time to continually explore the hymn and respond to God in prayers.
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Heb. 11v8-10(NIV)
Hebrews 11 exposes how God promised Abraham a land and upon receiving same, he didn’t consider himself as a lord over the inheritance. He even as a stranger lived in his own inheritance. The land where Abraham and Sarah were buried was bought, even if it is this land which God himself promised to give Abraham. He so lived not because he couldn’t have enjoyed full possession of the promise but because he lost sight of the inheritance that fades away and focused on a Land and promise that cannot be corrupt. He sought a land with eternal foundation so he considered himself a stranger to his earthly inheritance and possessions. When I see brethren argue, quarrel and fight over possessions, it only tells me that they may not have come to the point where Abraham was when he freely relinquished his inheritance. Today Christians take themselves to court over positions and possessions that will surely perish with this fading world. They hold the fading crown in high esteem so much so that they will reject any form of counsel until they have gathered enough earthly possessions to have their names sounding in the lips of many. Has someone forcefully collected that which belongs you? Do you feel cheated because you have been deprived of your rights? Have you been rejected and considered a stranger in your own city or home? If so, let go and seek that precious glory which is unending and never fading. I am not ignorant of the fact that it isn’t easy to let go so I want to ask that you take a while in prayers to God asking Him to help you let go and fix your attention on the things above.
IF THEN you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth. Col. 3v1-2 (AMP)
RUNNING TO WIN
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.1 Cor. 9v24-27 (KJV)
In a race everyone runs, but only one person gets first prize. So run your race to win. To win the contest you must deny yourselves many things that would keep you from doing your best. An athlete goes to all this trouble just to win a blue ribbon or a silver cup, but we do it for a heavenly reward that never disappears. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I fight to win. I’m not just shadow-boxing or playing around. Like an athlete I punish my body, treating it roughly, training it to do what it should, not what it wants to. Otherwise I fear that after enlisting others for the race, I myself might be declared unfit and ordered to stand aside. 1 Cor. 9v24-27 (TLB)
Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it yours. Now every athlete who goes into training conducts himself temperately and restricts himself in all things. They do it to win a wreath that will soon wither, but we [do it to receive a crown of eternal blessedness] that cannot wither. Therefore I do not run uncertainly (without definite aim). I do not box like one beating the air and striking without an adversary. But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit].1 Cor. 9v24-27 (AMP)
The scripture before us is one that is expedient as we follow after Christ Jesus. It has sharpened the life of many believers and personally transformed my life. I will like for us to take a sober (serious) reflection at the words and instruction placed before us. I have learnt that not everyone who runs will eventually win a price. This means that a lot of persons will only get to the finish line disappointed. Knowing this, I count it important for us to run in such a manner that we will be assured of victory at last. Consider the life of athletes, they avoid certain foods, they are in constant training, they have little or no time for other engagements because their time has been invested in preparing to win. These athletes have learnt how to frequently suffer their flesh and trim their weights to suit their peculiar sport. They suffer many injuries in their trainings yet, they are not deterred or discouraged from pressing on. Howbeit, all they do is to win an award that will perish with this fading world. We are also running but our race is not unto a corruptible glory for we run to win the precious price in Heaven. If the athletes in the world run with so much zeal, discipline and commitment to win a crown which doesn’t count in eternity, shouldn’t you run with greater strength in order to win the eternal reward prepared for us in heaven? Beloved if you must win, then you will deliberately deprive yourself of many things in which this world offers. Are you aware that thousands of people can gather to watch an athlete but he is not distracted by the cheering of the crowd? He doesn’t even listen to what the crowd says because all his focus is on hitting the ribbon. A believer running to heaven and desiring to all sort of sweet words and praises from the audience may not win the race. If you desire accolades and your ears are open to words which feed and nourish your ego, you cannot win the race.
The athletes live a life restricted. They don’t eat all they want and they dress in a way to sooth their sporting activity. They don’t eat all their appetite requests but only what is needed to help them run to victory. So sister, why do you allow everything go in your own life? Can’t you deny yourself of some pleasure? As an athlete running to heaven shouldn’t you change your dressing pattern to sooth your pursuit? Shouldn’t you bridle your tongue so that you won’t miss the precious heavenly award? If you have truly overcome vanity, sir shouldn’t you desire only that which you need to run unto eternity?
I beseech you today, that you put your body under subjection as you race to Heaven. Let me ask you some questions beloved. Can your prayerlessness and lack of Bible study earn you a reward in Heaven? Will your lack of evangelism and unserious attitude to spiritual things secure you a space in Heaven?
I know about a late musician that spends several hours rehearsing his dance moves. He could invest as much as five hours daily practicing his pop dance steps but you have been a believer for years and you can’t confidently boast of praying for an hour. The 30 minutes you spend praying is even out of much struggles. I pray for you today that God shall visit you with an unquenchable fire.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. Heb. 12v1-3 (NLT)
THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Just think of Him Who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter hostility against Himself [reckon up and consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you may not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and relaxing and fainting in your minds. Heb. 12v1-3 (AMP)
If we must prevail, then we must consider the scripture above with utmost importance. God is giving us an important instruction to get rid, lay aside, strip off, and throw away every weight and encumbrance slowing us down in our pursuit. Lay aside the weight of anger, malice, fornication, strive, lies, masturbation, un-forgiveness, pride and so on. No matter how many times you fall, Jesus is always ready to pick you up, however, others running with you would have covered more grounds whenever you fall and struggle to recover. If you can abandon your besetting sin today and the charming things of this world, you will have a smooth run to the celestial city.
And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: Rev:2v26 (KJV)
Shall we pray!!
