Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

After my parents separated and I moved from northern Canada to Cincinnati, Ohio, I made the startling discovery that very few of my American friends think much about hockey, let alone play it.

In fact, the only time they thought of hockey was when they'd hear on the news that all Canadian hockey teams were eliminated in the Stanley Cup playoffs, or that the U.S. had beaten Canada in Olympic hockey (the past few years have not been good to me).

Ever one to adapt, I took up basketball. And I was terrible. When I first started playing in high school, I was clumsy, slow, and awkward. By the time I stopped playing after college, I was just clumsy and awkward.

Because I was tall, the coach always stuck me at center. I had an assistant coach named Peter who was like 6'6". I don't remember much of what Peter taught me, but the one move I do remember was the elbow pivot.

“Ezra,” he’d say, "You're a tall guy, so when you grab the ball underneath the basket, put your elbows up and pivot. That'll clear out the people around you so you have room to move.” As a hockey player who wasn't opposed to knocking out a few teeth, I took his advice to heart.

Our head coach was a guy named Chad, and I don't remember any of the plays he taught us, but one thing I do remember is that Chad loved to make his players run. It was his solution for everything. If we were missing layup drills, we would run. If we had a bad game the day before, we would run. If one guy showed up without flaussing, we would run.

Thankfully, this was the part of the game I understood, so I embraced the challenge, and in each practice I ran as hard as I could. My goal was never to be the greatest shooter. I just wanted to work the hardest and run the fastest.

I was sharing some of the glory moments of my illustrious career with my wife, Janan, the other night, and I couldn't help but laugh. At the time—despite being terrible at it and having zero chance of NBA aspirations—basketball was one of my top priorities, and I'd do anything for a win.

I'm still kind of wired that way. Whenever I play sports, I always play hard. I'm the guy who always dives for balls during a rec league volleyball game, even if we're down 23 to 2. The guy who runs through first base in softball. And the kind of guy that, when I'm on the hockey rink, other guys say, "Hey, remember we all have jobs tomorrow."

Don't ask me why. Maybe my great-grandfather was uber competitive, and I was handed his genes.

Maybe you're not big into hockey or basketball, but you do have that internal drive to always succeed, to strive for new goals. You work your butt off at work, but for what? You always have to be first in your department, but why? You've got to hit that new goal, but for what end?

Aim for the Prize

That's why Paul's words in Philippians 3:12-14 are so refreshing, because they bring so much-needed perspective.

¹² Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, ¹⁴ I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

In this passage, Paul’s “language comes from the world of war and athletics and emphasizes the strenuous nature of his efforts to fulfill his vocation.”^[1] The phrase “one thing I do” is striking because Paul simplifies the entire Christian life into a singular focus.

He's cutting away distractions, “forgetting what is behind." This doesn’t mean he's lost his ability to recall, but he is actively choosing not to be influenced or controlled by the past. It’s an active, ongoing posture. Paired with that is “reaching forward,” like a runner who is stretching their body toward the finish line, straining every muscle.

Who is he doing this for? As F. F. Bruce notes, “On a special occasion in Rome this call might come from the emperor himself; how proudly the successful athlete would obey the summons and step up to the imperial box to accept the award! For Paul, the president of the games was none other than his Lord.”^[2]

It's from Jesus that Paul will claim his "prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus." What is this prize? Frank Thielman explains,

The term “call” in Paul’s letters, both as a noun and as a verb, possesses a rich theological significance. Just as God called Israel to be his people in the Old Testament (Isa. 48:12; 51:2), so, in Paul’s letters, God calls people from many ethnic and social backgrounds (1 Cor. 1:26; Eph. 3:1; 4:1) into fellowship with Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:9) and into his kingdom (1 Thess. 2:12), and he does this by his grace (Gal. 1:6). This call is not, moreover, to something that will be fully realized in the present but to the future for which the believer now hopes (Eph. 1:18; 4:4). Thus, the heavenly call toward which Paul stretches with all his might is God’s call to be part of the people, made up of both Jews and Gentiles, who will stand justified before him on the final day because of their identification with Christ (vv. 8–11).^[3]

Put together, the language is intensely active and directional. Paul is intentionally disengaging from anything behind him that would slow him down, stretching forward with focus, and aggressively pursuing the ultimate goal—the wonder of spending eternity with God.

How Much Do You Think About Your Prize?

So what does this passage mean for people like you and me?

In an age of distraction, it's easy to focus on things that don't have much lasting value. It's climbing that career ladder of success only to realize the ladder is leaning against the wrong building.

So how do you avoid this? That's the tough part, but it's also the simple part. You turn to Jesus day after day after day after day. Like an airplane that's continually rerouting its course mid-flight, you are to continually reroute your life to focus on the prize so that you can one day stand before your father and hear those words, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

So, here is the all-important question: Does the prize consume your focus? Do you long for the day when you are freed from sin and ushered into a perfect, unbroken relationship with God? Or is your mind consumed in the daily affairs of this life?

If you've been losing focus, resolve to make daily decisions that bring you more in line with the prize you're pursuing. Visualize that prize. Think often about it. Ask God to bring it to your attention throughout the day. Make it your consuming focus, and cut loose those things that distract you from it.

^[1]Frank Thielman, Philippians, eds. Terry C. Muck, The NIV Application Commentary. Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 195.

^[2]F. F. Bruce, Philippians, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series. Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2011), 121-122.

^[3]Frank Thielman, Philippians, eds. Terry C. Muck, The NIV Application Commentary. Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 196.