The Winner's Attitude!

Let me ask you a question.  What was the first thing that you thought of when you considered your day today?  Were you excited, depressed, confident, apprehensive or just sort of non-committal about the schedule of events listed on your calendar?  I had another tenuous night as I awoke every few hours to tend to my wife’s needs and was looking forward to catching a few more last minute winks as she finally relaxed and dozed soundly around 7:00 AM.  Well, that lasted about a half hour and as she began to stir I decided to throw in the towel and get up in order to catch a little study time with the Lord before I got her ready for the day.

But before I tossed aside the covers and placed my feet on the ground, I made a conscious decision to willingly rejoice and put my trust in the Lord for the lack of sleep and the busy day ahead.  So with that, I put a smile on my face, took a deep breath and sprung out of bed!  After getting dressed I wandered into the kitchen and put on a pot of java from a fresh new bag of “delicate, fragrant and mildly acidic” Kona Blend ground coffee.  From there I grabbed my favorite Bible off the kitchen table and headed into the study.

I had marked in the margin of Philippians where I left off the previous day, so I expectantly set my attention to the Word and began to read from chapter three where Paul was talking about running the race of life.  I stopped after reading about four verses and realized that Paul faced life in a similar fashion to the way I had started my day.  In Philippians 3:12 he states that “I run to win that which Jesus Christ has already won for me.”  (God’s Word ©)  In the next few verses he continues on this same theme by talking about how he does not look back in life but instead lengthens his stride and runs “straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers us in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14 God’s Word ©)

Paul lived his life with every intention of winning in everything he did and faced on a daily basis.  He knew that Jesus had already won the prize for him and was offering it to Paul as well as to every one of us who will pursue and eagerly seize the available gift!  The word translated “win or won” in the God’s Word © Bible is termed “apprehend” in other translations and according to the original Greek literally means to “take eagerly, to seize, to possess or to lay hold of as to make one’s own” (Strong’s and Thayer’s)  Paul is encouraging his readers that success in this life is ours for the taking!  All it takes is commitment, fortitude and a firmly set plan to never give up or give in to the pressures of life that will come against us.  I believe that this is called having a “winner’s attitude!”

I was a member of the track team throughout my 3 years in Junior High.  I spent the first two years tossing the shot-put because my Dad and a few of my coaches (who were friends with my Dad as he taught at that school) thought that I would be good at it.  Well the truth was that I really wasn’t that good!  As I entered ninth grade, I decided to go with a personal desire that I had to run the 220 sprint and the 440 rely.  So I set my mind to it and remember spending many lonely hours running and walking around the track every day at practice.  I can’t say that I had anything close to blazing speed but after a few meets I began to place and toward the end of the season finally beat the one guy on our team that was always faster than me.  My big moment came at the last meet of the season when we were lining up for the 220 sprint and the coach in charge of the race from the other school looked at me and my teammate and said “choose your fastest runner to take this lane.”  With that my teammate and I Iooked at each other and he pointed to me and said ‘that’s you!”

You have to understand that this was a huge accomplishment for me at that time in my life.  I spent most of the time in Junior High trying to feel good about myself and finally felt like I had achieved a step in the right direction!  If I remember correctly, I came in third behind two other schools in that race, but it didn’t really matter because I felt that I had won my personal race.  Then a week or so after that our coach called me into his office to let me know that I was going to receive a letter for my season.  I was a little confused as I had not accumulated enough points to receive the coveted award.  When I asked him about it he said that I was getting it because he felt like I was the most improved member of the team that year!

I remember feeling like all the buttons on my shirt were going to pop off as they called my name and I walked up in front of the whole school to stand with the other receiving members of my team at the end of the year school assembly.  I had set my mind to win at the beginning of the track season, never gave up and ultimately won the prize!  I think this is exactly what Paul is trying to convey to all of us in this part of his letter to the church at Philippi.  He is telling us to start each day with a “winner’s attitude.”  To think as a winner, to act as a winner and to pursue your goals until you receive the prize.  After all, Jesus has already made a way for us to get the trophy.  All we have to do is go and get it!

Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What PRIZE am I expecting today?”