Running for the Lord...Yeah!

Running is something that I remember being very fun!  I ran Cross Country and Track in high school and enjoyed the conversations I had with others during workouts.  I remember the challenge that the meets would bring and working hard to overcome them.  I remember working as a team on the relay race and striving hard with others to win.  I would say that running was very satisfying overall.

So imagine my surprise a number of years ago when I was reading the Bible and saw the part where Paul talked about people running.

"You know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize. So run to win! All those who compete in the games use self-control so they can win a crown. That crown is an earthly thing that lasts only a short time, but our crown will never be destroyed. So I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something—not just the air. I treat my body hard and make it my slave so that I myself will not be disqualified after I have preached to others." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 https://www.bible.com/bible/105/1CO.9.24-27

"You know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize. So run to win! All those who compete in the games use self-control so they can win a crown. That crown is an earthly thing that lasts only a short time, but our crown will never be destroyed. So I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something—not just the air. I treat my body hard and make it my slave so that I myself will not be disqualified after I have preached to others." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NCV

Reading this passage reminded me of all the time I'd spent running and the satisfaction I received from it.  At the time I was still quite proud of my abilities as a runner and so automatically equated that with my faith (rather than looking at my faith and using running as an encouragement or measure).  Later I was to find out that I had been thinking about it in the wrong direction.

When you train for something it is easy to think of the things that you "DO" in order to get ready.  But even with all the "DOs" that are available, we have to also think of the "DON'Ts"  Just as a runner needs to do certain exercises to build muscle, there are certain things that they shouldn't so as well.  Like, eat nothing but junk food.

So looking at my faith through the lens of running there is a word that comes to my mind: discipline.  Which freaked me out a little at first.  The first question that came to my mind was, "Didn't Jesus die so that I don't have to pay attention to the 'rules'?"  What I wasn't looking for were more rules to follow in my life.  I'd failed there too many times.  But I found out that that wasn't what God wanted for me either.  He wanted me to discipline my self.  Discipline can be explained as an "activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training."  He wanted me to learn the things that help change who I think I am into the person that He created me to be.

One of the disciplines that I had to learn was making excuses to justify where I was or what I had just done.  In fact, I had done it so much, so frequently, so automatically, that I didn't even realize most of the time that I was doing it.  Today, I had been reading a devotional and came across this statement:

"Shedding excuses is a discipline that must be practiced with our thoughts, communication, and actions. There is only room for language that declares: I will! Growth occurs when we confront our personal experiences and how they’ve changed us."  Ref.

One of the cool things about loving Jesus is the fact that he erases the troubles of our past.  So despite the past I've lived, I can have a brand-new start in life!  How awesome is that?  But one of the challenges of this is the fact that I have trained myself over the years to respond to things in certain ways.  Like making excuses for myself.

What I've learned about things like excuse-making is that you have to add these to your life with God.  I need to confess that I keep trying to go back to the old ways.  I've asked Him to remove these things from my way of acting and my life, and I have to keep myself in that place or they will sneak back in.  It's like snacking on high-sugar snacks--they only disrupt my energy production and make me fat.  Tough situation for a runner.   Tough situation for my relationship with God who wants to see me change and grow.  It is not easy, but necessary.  It needs a focus as well, so I will "fight like a boxer who is hitting something—not just the air (v.26b)."

So here is my goal: to train as a runner would in my faith in Jesus.  It will require me to do certain things and to not do others.  I am not doing this to follow rules, but instead to be fit as I can be as I run this race of life.  I will fall and fail--but I have the Holy Spirit there to pick me up and run with me as well!  So, I am now running for the Lord!  Yeah!