We are approaching All Saints Sunday (NEXT WEEK), and this Sunday we reflect on the Christian life.

In his second letter to Timothy, Paul reflects on where he is later in his life.

He says that his life is being "poured out." Paul believes that his life, and even the extinguishing of his life, is an offering to God.

Can you imagine how we might live if we truly saw every part of our life as a sacrifice to God that we know would one day be “poured out?” How much of our time and energy would be spend pursuing hollow counterfeits? And how much of our time would we spend centering our lives on him?

Paul then switches metaphors. It's like he's been running a race, and he is about to achieve the crown (the prize for the winner of a Greek athletic event). But, unlike an athletic event, Paul's crown will not be used as a status symbol and does not prove that he is the one and only winner. This crown is a "crown of righteousness." It means that, in spite of all the people who have rejected Paul, all those who turned their back on him and despised him, God will one day declare that he is "in the right."

The race that we run as Christians is quite different from other ways of achieving. We don't live for Christ because it is practical, has great "upside," growth potential, or because it is the best path to self-fulfillment (though, in a different way, it is all those things). We live for Christ because we know it is what we were created for! And we are confident in that day when all of that will be fully know.