The Key West citizen., 1954-08-14
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON

FS"AS~' AAS UOHSue ana MS actlOnS.
The great Blackstone told of hay-
ing an efficient assistant stage ma.
nager who would let alcohol, get
the best of him every time he ap-
peared In Georgia. At one time he
was so drunk that he had to be
dismissed. He was told that when
ne was able to keep away from
drink he would be hired again.
Within year he was back for the
job and proved good indeed, sober
every night. During the day he
could never be found and when
asked where he spent the time he
told Mr.. Blackstone that he locked
himself up in jail - to keep from
getting drunk. There may be times
when we may have to take drastic
action to buffet my body, and
bring it into bondage" as did
Paul.
Apparently people did a lot of
talking in Pauls day. He speaks CT
those who "beat the air" and he
seems to despise that sort of SER
vice. One can never win by simply
saying that they love the Lord.
People used to stand in public
places and shout a lot of petty,
useless nothings and then INDUCED
In a shiftlesS, useless life. It's very
much like the church member VINO
takes the vows that he will attend
the means of grace, and then
shows up at the church once or
twice a year. To be a victorious
Christian one must get into the
race and so discipline himself in
such a manner as to win the
crown offered to the faithful.
The Christian Race
Paul seems to dwell on the same
subject when he writes to the He
brews. He had apparently watched
the Greek races, and so he likens
the Christian race to that which
he had observed on the track. Tie
runner lays aside every weight, all
superhuous clothing, and stripped
of all .encumbrances, he sets out
to win. If we apply this lesson to
our daily lives it is as silly for us
to weight ourselves down with
deadly habits, hot tempers, and
guilty conscienceS when it hinders
and hampers us in the race of life.
We are to run with patience
which means that we keep our
mind on the goal and objective ra-
ther than upon the other fellow,
While we are interested in how our
neighbor is progressing, we want
to succeed ourselves. We hinder
oursef when we throw gossipy OBJ
structions in front of our neighbor.
AS good Christians we help our.
selves as we assist others in their
race. We may not win, but as good
sports we like to see virtues and
ability in others. We do not envy
them their talent and ability.
The Christian race is somewhat
like a relay race. Each one must
carry the stick over his course
whether he be a teacher, a faith
ful attendant lending encourage
ment to others, or serving on some
board. Each one doing his best can
make his church what it ought to
be lifting high the light of the Cos
pei trut that it might brigten the
whole community.
There seems to be a race in the
world today between the forces of
Christ who practice his gospel of
peace and the forces of atheism
who believe that force and worldly
power are paramount. If Christian
people believed as sincerely in the
Gospel of love and practiced it as
faithfully as do the communists.
their gospel of hate, this world
could be won for Christ, the Prince
OF Peace. Christians can win this
race when we 'lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doth so
easily beSet US. looking unto Je-
sus the author and perfector of our
faith" BY self-discipline we can
grow into the grace and love of
Jesus Christ.
Based ON copyrighted outlines
produced by the Division OF Christi