Just Five 1.20

gold

1 Corinthians 9:24
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run that ye may obtain.

The apostle Paul said life is like a race and we can win it or lose it. In this race we are not competing against other people, but against our own potential. Inside all of us God has planted seeds of potential, and our winning or losing depends on what we do with those seeds. We can develop them or neglect them.
Many people try to take shortcuts or even cheat in life to get ahead. They may fool people, but they never fool God. In 67 A.D. Nero, the emperor or Rome, decided to compete in a chariot race. Right in the middle of the event, he fell of his chariot and never finished the race. The judges, under extreme pressure from the emperor, declared him the winner anyway. The emperor was able to manipulate the judges into overlooking his undeveloped athletic potential.
But in the race of life, we can’t fool God. He sees what we do or don’t do with our potential.
Purpose in your heart that you will run your race in life to win by developing all the potential you have. Have you been given a musical gift that you are neglecting? Do you have a gift in science or mathematics that you have allowed to be undeveloped?
You may not even know where your potential is. Part of the race is sometimes working to discover what gifts God had put inside us. It takes hard work and practice to discover and develop our potential.
Don’t waste any time. Get started today.

prayer
God, please open my eyes to all the potential You have deposited inside me. Give me the passion to pursue Your best and the determination to develop all You have given me. I want to win the race called life. Help me never settle for second best. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

*from thrive teen devotional by blaine bartel