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24. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.25. 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 intercorruptible.26. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:27. But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: least that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 🙏🏻 Paul makes an analogy, between the Greek athletic games, and the believers life. The participants of a race join, that they may win a prize. The believer joins with Christ, and will receive a reward. Paul reveals if you seek the reward, you must be in the race. The athlete, prepares his body, and mind, to win a prize, that has no eternal value, the believer, a reward, that no one can take away. Paul, say he was in a fight, not as a shadow boxer, beating the air, but a daily battle, as Satan will not let up, yet we are safe in Christ's hand. Paul's example is that, he brought his body into submission to Christ, to do this the mind must be submitted, the body does what the mind says. And he did this so that as he preached Christ, he was honorable, and not a transgressor, that at the end, he would be received, and not cast out. Amen.