I like prizes. I can remember how eager I was to find the prize in a box of cereal that my mother brought home from the grocery store. I would empty the entire box if I had to in order to find the prize before my sisters did. Maybe that was cheating, but I wanted the prize. Many years ago, I entered a 10k race and I trained for it. To be honest, the main motivation was the t-shirt I would receive at the end of the race. I still have the t-shirt!

But there is a difference between running for the prize and running because of the prize. There is a difference between living in order to receive the prize and living because of the prize. Both require training and discipline. In as much as I like prizes, I run the race that Paul describes because of the prize, and I have found that is an even greater motivation for me. I am reading through the Bible, not so that I will receive a prize (sorry folks, there is no t-shirt at the end of this) but because I have been promised the prize.

We do it to get a crown that will last forever.