‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬Sometimes, we come across people who perhaps are not familiar with Biblical text but live in the spirit of it. In July this year, Africa’s richest man, Dangote, spoke with journalists at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos State. Among other things, he made them to know that he does not own a house in the United Kingdom or United States. He has a house in Lagos, and the other one in his home state, Kano. He lives in a rented house in Abuja. What could be his reason? He noted that having houses scattered around would distract him from his focus of making Nigeria a hallmark of industrialisation. In his words, “I figured that if I had those houses, there would be one reason or the other for me to visit those places, thereby causing distraction for me.”

Each one of us must identify what constitutes distraction and be ready to lay them aside. That is the only way we can run the race and win the prize.

In several portions of the Bible, believers are metaphorically described as runners. It is the same thought being conveyed in our text. Two things are to be set aside if we are going to make good our race. The first is sin. The Bible says all unrighteousness is sin. Indulgent, sinful lifestyle will affect our race. The other one is weight. This will cover all those things that are not necessarily sinful, but constitute distractions. Each one of us must identify what constitutes distraction and be ready to lay them aside. That is the only way we can run the race and win the prize.