Do you remember the two-a-day high school football workouts that typically started a couple of weeks before school began? The practices were structured for conditioning and getting football ready. If one ran hard through every drill, he would likely make the final roster.

Similarly in life, if one works hard, results are realized and accolades are received on the job. Has that been your experience? The reverse is certainly true – If you do not work hard, results will most likely not meet expectations and the recognition received will not be positive.

“Cursed is the ground because of you; … By the sweat of your brow, you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” – Genesis 3:17, 19. Is work the curse? In her book, The Epic of Eden, Sandra Richter writes, “because of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from God’s presence, humanity will now live their lives in an adversarial world with a constant gnawing undercurrent of dread that there will not be enough, that their labor will not meet the need. … I am a citizen of the richest nation in the world, and still I worry. And so do you? This is the curse of Adam – limited resources, an insecure future and a world that no longer responds to my command.” Thus, we work hard! The ‘Why we work’, ‘What we are working for’ and ‘Who we are to glorify’, get lost in the anxiety stirred up by the curse. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Every athlete who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly; – 1Corinthians 9:24-26. Run hard! In his daily devotions, Truth for Life, Alistair Begg writes, “the word for ‘run’ that Paul uses describes running not as a half-hearted participant but as a prizewinner. ... We must go for gold.” He goes on, “the word ‘athlete’ translates the word agonizomenos, from which we get the word ‘agony’. To be an athlete is to choose not to be comfortable.” Anxieties and agony are part of the journey in this world. The charge is to run hard and work hard through it all under the motivation of the One who experienced agony beyond comprehension for our sake. The curse keeps the focus on the temporal. Salvation takes the focus to an eternal perspective.

Eric Liddell, the famous Scottish Olympian and missionary, was asked about the race plan that had seen him win gold in the 1924 Olympic 400 meters. He is said to have answered, “I run the first 200 meters as hard as I can. Then, for the second 200 meters, with God’s help, I run even harder.” Making the roster for a team and receiving accolades on the job are temporal. What matters eternally is to run hard and work hard, and with God’s help, raise a godly generation for His glory along the way.

Prayer guide: Father, thank You for Your word and Your presence in my life. I confess I have taken pride in working hard under the wrong motivation. My focus has been on temporal status and stuff. And that is what the kids have seen. Forgive me. Help me run the race You have marked out for me on the job and in family. I commit to run hard and work hard to Your glory on this journey as the faithful father You expect me to be. That is the dad You call me to be and that’s the dad my kids need to see. Amen.

A faithful father commits to run hard and work hard to the Father’s glory.