Paul exclaims in 1 Corinthians 9:24 that we are to run the race as if to win.

1 Corinthians 9:24 (NASB)

24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.

But what exactly are we supposed to win and who are we competing against? Considering the lateness of the prophetic hour in which we live I think its important what we regularly remind ourselves who we are competing against and what need to do to win.  Let me use the sport of Cycling as an analogy.

To me, Cycling is both an interesting example and an interesting contradiction of running the race as if to win. This is particularly true for an event like the 21-day Tour de France race that occurs every July. In order to win the race, individual riders must work together with competitors at certain times in the race. You can't win without working together with your competitors and you can't win without separating yourself from your competitors. The key to winning of to maintain the right relationship with the peloton.

What is the peloton?

The May 2017 post titled Exit Sign by Greg Lauer of A Little Strength has resonated with me or a while  I only read it the first time in August or September but it stuck with me.  I highly recommend it if you have not read it already.

Since then I have been noodling on the idea of how to evaluate the idea of biblical speculation vs the doctrine of imminence.  According to Greg the definition of imminence is this:

Or, more precisely, at no point in time during the Church Age have we ever possessed or will we ever possess the revelation knowledge of Scripture required to confirm the exact date of the Rapture before it occurs, or the existence of a prophetic event that must precede it.

Here's how I interpret Greg’s statements:

Waiting for Jesus to return can be painful. For those who are being persecuted around the world for their faith the pain can be physical and mental. For those who are spiritually lost the waiting can be excruciating because they don't know what they are looking for or it doesn't seem like Jesus is answering their prayers. But I wanted to write today about another kind of painful waiting. That's the waiting of expectancy.

The minister at my church recently talked about the waiting that Mary did after Gabriel informed her of the Immaculate Conception but before Jesus was born.

Do you remember what happened at the end of Gabriel's visit?

After showing my new website to a very good friend of mine, he responded with two questions. He's a strong Christian brother with whom I enjoy exchanging banter between discussions about Jesus and other serious subjects. So when he asked me the questions I was tempted to respond with a smart aleck comment. But before I responded I thought for a moment and I decided that he had asked some great questions that were were worthy of a thoughtful, honest answer. Further, I thought maybe I should just go ahead and answer his question by posting the answer on my website.  

So here's the first question, exactly as he wrote it to me:

Why do you want to know – or get as close to you can in knowing – the date or approximate timing of the Rapture?

Since it is relevant to this website, I thought maybe it worthy of answering publically.