adversary stalking you at your heels? If you see him you will put all the energy you have into running for the final contest; yes, more energy than you would if you saw merely the secret police at your heels or the mob at your doorstep!—Rev. 12:12.

Gaining the Prize of Life by Active Training Now

1. How do Jehovah and Jesus Christ view the halfhearted, and why?

THOSE who are halfhearted are hated by Jehovah and by Christ Jesus. (Ps. 119:113, AS; Hos. 7:8) Oh, they want the prize of life all right. They like to be with the witnesses of Jehovah, but they are lukewarm about it. They want to feel the excitement. They like the celebrating. Yet they do not do anything to give cause for celebrating. Because they are neither hot nor cold, Christ Jesus will vomit them out of his mouth. (Rev. 3:14-16) They will lose the race.

2-4. What must we do and have, and what does it take to win?

² Those running in the ancient games at Corinth knew it meant they had to put every ounce of strength into the contest. One Greek runner anciently ran the twenty-four stadium lengths, enduring right to the end and coming in first. As the crown was being placed on his head he dropped dead. He had attained the goal. He had triumphed! But how about us? Do we put the race first in order to endure to the end? Jesus admonished us to seek first the Kingdom and Jehovah’s righteousness. (Matt. 6:33) Only by doing this can we win. Do not let anything—family, business, pleasure, desires, or anything else—intervene in the contest. It will put in jeopardy your triumph.

³ Unswervingly determine to stick in the contest until final victory. What good does it do a runner to have a strong body if he is weak-willed? He will run unwisely or, like a poor boxer in training, he will beat the air instead of the punching bag. (1 Cor. 9:26) He is sure to lose because he will have no endurance. He needs mental determination to have endurance. Your heart must be in the race and it must be strong, permanently fixed, trusting in Jehovah. (Ps. 112:7, AS) Wholehearted you must be for completing the contest. Yes, determine to overcome all obstacles! If you do, it is more than half the race. As a runner, you must know the pace required by the race. Is it a short race or a long one? Does it call for pacing or racing the limit? A champion boxer or wrestler must have a good mind. He cannot be a brute bull with no sense. So with us, it is not a matter of just strong legs and a weak mind. We cannot merely walk from door to door, but we have strong minds and in our sermons we hit the target with the Bible. Run wisely! Use knowledge of the Bible and intelligence to win the race or to get victory. Build yourself up and equip yourself with a knowledge of God’s Word. “You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome Jehovah gave.”—Jas. 5:11, NW.