Faithfulness
Your acts of unfaithfulness will find you out.
Don’t you understand how terribly bitter
it is to abandon the Lord your God
and not fear me? ~ Jeremiah 2:19 (part)(CEB)
Maintain the faithful pace that you have already set. Don't let competitors distract you and steal the trophy that is rightfully yours. That trophy is the reward for finishing well. ~ Revelation 3:11b (ABP)
Dear God,
THANKS: I am thankful for the opportunity to serve you.
REGRETS: But there are times when I let competing desires and matters distract me from applying myself more fully to the race. I know that you are not angry with me but that in your love you are concerned that my stumbling might ruin my chance to strongly cross the finish line.
INTERCESSION: Help me to stay focused on you -- to remain faithful to the training and the race which I run with the energy that you have provided.
PURPOSE: Cheered along by Christ Jesus I'm going to be a faithful finisher -- regardless of the challenges that come my way.
Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
