Many of us, no doubt, are aware, that the apostles, as well as our blessed Lord, were in the habit of drawing their observations and modes of instruction from the common transactions of daily life; from the circumstances, by which they were surrounded; from the manners and customs of the people, amongst whom they sojourned. Thus, when our Lord called Peter and Andrew, who were fishermen, to be His disciples, He said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” And St. Paul, on the occasion before us, alludes to certain games or sports, generally celebrated, and highly esteemed by the people, whom he was addressing. One of these games was the foot-race, in which a number of competitors contended together for the prize; and, in the result of which, they and their friends were deeply interested. Severe was the previous training, which it was necessary for them to undergo; and great and persevering the exertion necessary, in order to gain the prize. It would readily occur to their minds, that if the racer, who was out-stripping his opponents, were so to please himself by the advantage he had gained, by thinking of the ground he had successfully gone over, as to relinquish his efforts, as to stop and look back upon his wonderful feats, and indolently enjoy his satisfaction, that, by such folly he would soon lose his superiority, that his past endeavours would have been to little or no purpose; it would be perfectly manifest to them, that nothing could ensure his success, but the continuance of that activity, which had placed him foremost in the trial. Agreeably to this view and this figure, the apostle took his resolution, and formed his principle and conduct in the christian race. “This one thing I do;” this is the unswerving purpose of my soul, this the plan and object by which my whole course is constantly regulated; “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth, (stretching out and forward all the faculties of my body and soul) to those things which are before, I press toward the mark.” Great and successful as his attainments already were, he did not dwell upon them with a complacence and security, which should induce him to relax; on the contrary, he forgot them, in the comparison and prospect of the exertions which yet remained.