September 26: Running to Win
It’s the weekend. No schedule. No one checking on you. Will you still pray this morning? Still read? Still make that call?
“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.”
Paul uses a picture his readers knew well. Athletes in training. They run to win. They practice self-control in everything. They do it for a crown that fades, a wreath of leaves. We do it for a crown that lasts forever.
Athletes train when no one’s watching. Early mornings. Boring drills. The same exercises, day after day. The race is only a few minutes long. The training takes months.
Recovery works the same way. The big moments, a hard amends, a crisis you get through, are built on boring daily habits. Morning prayer. Reading. A call. A meeting. An evening review. These are your drills. They don’t feel exciting. But when the hard moment comes, they’re what holds you up.
Step Nine is the discipline step. And a lot of that discipline is small. Keeping your daily habits on weekends, when your routine is loose. Following through on an amends you scheduled, even when you’d rather not. Getting enough sleep. Eating real food. Not skipping the meeting because it’s Saturday.
Weekends can be risky. Less structure. More free time. More invitations to drink. That’s when training matters most. An athlete doesn’t stop training just because there’s no game. And a good athlete has a coach. Your sponsor is that coach. Check in with them on the weekend too, not just on weekdays.
Make a simple weekend plan. When will you pray? When’s the meeting? Who will you call? What fun, sober thing will you do? Write it down.
And keep your eyes on the prize. Not a chip. Not a reputation. A life that honors God and a crown that won’t fade. That’s worth the training.
One thing today
Write a simple plan for this weekend: when you’ll pray, which meeting you’ll go to, who you’ll call, and one sober thing you’ll do for fun.
A prayer
Lord, help me train well, even when no one’s watching. Keep me faithful in my daily habits. Give me self-control today, and keep my eyes on the prize that lasts. Amen.
Daily discipline is the heart of Step Nine.
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