A Life Well Lived: Let Us Run in Such a Way as to Win the Prize at the End

'The Man with the Golden Helmet' is one of Rembrandt’s most famous and beloved paintings. Since I was very young, I have admired this masterpiece by the extraordinary Dutch painter. This painting shows us an old soldier, with a noble and melancholy face, dressed in his military uniform and wearing a beautiful golden helmet.

In the painting, the old soldier gazes steadily at some undefined point, deep in thought, with a melancholy look in his eyes. Despite his years, his face still reflects the firmness and manliness of youth; perhaps, too, the gentle sadness that comes from having seen and lived through too much. The old soldier’s jaw and mouth, the tilt of his head, convey vigor and courage. Old age does not seem to have diminished the strength and virility of his youth in the least.

It is evident that this man has lived well. He has retained his strength. He has not squandered his manliness or vitality on destructive pleasures or dishonest acts. Clearly, the soldiers he led in war were blessed to serve under the leadership of an exceptional man who always cared about their well-being and never put their lives at unnecessary risk. For this man, the reward of a life well lived turns out to be precisely an old age full of vitality and inner peace.

The apostle Paul was that kind of leader, always on guard against himself, always alert to any subtle trap that might cause him to stumble and lose his crown. For him, the Christian life is a long race. How we finish matters more than how we begin. His firm purpose was to finish the race with honor, to run it according to the rules. In 1 Corinthians 9:24 he asks, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize?” For him, the conclusion is inescapable: “Run in such a way that you may obtain it.”

The glory of a life well lived and a ministry well finished is not guaranteed to us. There is a way to “run” if we want this to become a reality for us. We must pay the price! We must pray much, bleed much, allow the Lord to break and prune us. We must ask forgiveness many times, acknowledge many faults, humble ourselves greatly. It takes much fasting and many sleepless nights, many shipwrecks of the self and of pride, many struggles with the angel in the middle of the night. It involves a life of abstaining and forgoing pleasures. Paul puts it this way:

25 Everyone who competes exercises self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.

26 So I run in this way, not aimlessly; I fight in this way, not like someone beating the air,

27 but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.

The specter of ultimate failure at the end of his race kept Paul sober. Day after day, he embraced anew the disciplines of an athlete running a race. In his case, those disciplines involved prayer, searching the Scriptures, fasting, continual self-examination, actively rejecting the world, renouncing the pursuit of personal glory or the approval of men, actively acknowledging his personal failings, and continually depending on the Lord.

His farewell address at Miletus to the elders of the church in Ephesus, recorded in Acts 20:17–35, shows that Paul succeeded in reaching his goal. His words to his fellow soldiers convey the dignity, grace, and authority of a soldier who retires with honor, who has fulfilled his mission, and who never turned his back on the enemy. In another beautiful and moving passage (2 Timothy 4:5–8), he encourages Timothy, his spiritual son, to run his own ministerial race according to the rules and to finish it with honor:

5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardships, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

6 For I am already being poured out as an offering, and the time of my departure is near.

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

8 From now on, the crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who love his appearing.

Christian life and service are strewn with spiritual traps. The glorious heights of the beginning can give way to the valleys and abysses of mediocrity later on. If we do not continually guard and examine ourselves, we can easily go astray and lose our course. A glorious and honorable finish is reached only through countless moral decisions made each day, and a pledge of faithfulness continually renewed in the face of the constant temptation to let our arms fall and yield to the deceptive offers of the tempter of our souls.

Some principles that can help us live a victorious life, always pressing onward and upward: Keeping short accounts with God, acknowledging and confessing our sins as soon as possible.

Honesty and transparency with God and our fellow human beings. Preventive humility, and the continual recognition that only by God’s grace can we draw near to Him and serve Him. Mercy toward others, which assures us of God’s grace and forgiveness when we offend Him. Dependence on God’s power to live holy lives, instead of relying on our own strength or righteousness. A continual search for fresh anointing, instead of relying on the sublime experiences of the past for today’s struggles. Principles like these will keep us spiritually vigorous and lead us from victory to victory in our Christian walk.