Pressing Toward The Mark

Have you ever watched a track event?  All the runners line up at the starting line with the goal of being the first one to cross the finish line and win the prize.  How they run determines if they will finish the race, take the prize or be disqualified.  To get from start to finish successfully, they have to aim for the finish line, and then with determination and perseverance, they run.  This reminds me of Paul in Phil 3:14 when he wrote: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” 

To press toward means to “exert a deliberate, maximum effort for the purpose of reaching or attaining something,”   When we press toward the mark we don’t look back, but instead go forward in an eager pursuit. 

We all have marks or goals that we are aiming at in our life. Are we going after them in an “eager pursuit” or are we drifting after them as if we were floating in a lazy pool hoping we achieve them?   The fact that we are to “press in” reveals there is a current flowing in the opposite direction to pull us out. We need a tenacity to walk against it.

The women with the issue of blood in Mark 5:25-31 walked against the current of the crowd, pressing through the people, to get to Jesus and touch the hem of His garment.  She wanted her healing so bad she didn’t care what anyone thought about how she looked.  She set her mark, her aim on Jesus and with every ounce of tenacity, she reached out and touched the very edge of His garment, and she was healed!

When we want something bad enough, we will press in to touch Him and won’t let anything stop us. We will run with a tenacity, not a lackadaisical attitude.  How are you running?