"Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." -1Corinthians 9:26-27
I'm reading through 1Corinthians, and I must say I like the book a lot. Haha. :) (that would be an understatement). Life update: I decided to go to Penn over San Jose State, to honor my parents. If you want details, ask me :) So as I spend my last week at home, I have struggled with using my time wisely and purposefully. By God's grace, I'm in chapter 9 of 1Corinthians this week. Haha. Yes, He is sovereign. I am humbled when I read verse 26 because I feel like I waste so much of my time on silly things, like watching tv or going on the internet (and yet I'm updating my online blog :-P) when I could be talking to my parents and sharing the gospel with them. Also, it's been hard to wake up early (like I normally do at UCLA)... but again God knows what's He's doing. In a week I will have to wake up early for classes. >.< Seriously though, I am humbled by the purposefulness that Paul lives his life. I see "run" as living life and "box" as fighting sin... and he does that always with a purpose. Actually it's hard to live life and fight sin in ways that are honoring to the Lord without a purpose.
Then it occured to me that my roomate at Penn might not be Christian. I know I know, I should have realized that earlier. But living with Christians practically all four years at UCLA has a downside--I am so used to living with Christians that I don't think I had to deal with many issues of this world directly. Yes I have friends who are not believers, but it's different being friends and living with them. I realized that I need to sit down and think hard about what are things that I will hold dearly to (and not compromise on), such as my faith in God. But what can I compromise on? If I live with an unbeliever, there may be other issues that I can't think of right now. This is where verse 27 hit me. I need to maintain my testimony as a Christian before her--I know I'm not perfect and will never be, but I need to be as close to God as I possibly can to ensure that my testimony is solid because only God will satisfy and keep me and change her heart if she isn't a believer. And even if she is a believer, I still need to be close to God so that I don't discourage her from the faith.