Run the Race

I lay in bed at 7am on Saturday morning and I didn't feel like running. For a bit of context, I've been training to run the Columbus marathon for about 6 weeks now. Saturday morning is the long run day and I was schedule for 13 miles this past Saturday. But as I lay in bed half awake knowing what was before me, I simply had no desire to run. I thought out all of the reasons why I should sleep in and why running that day was not the wisest use of my time. I felt flat, windless, like my batteries needed to be re-charged. I didn't think I had 13 miles in me.

Have you ever laid in bed on Monday morning and said, "I don't feel like being a Christian today"? I sure have. It sometimes happens after I have been doing a lot of church stuff and I'm just tired. Or sometimes when I feel stressed about a situation or people that I've had to deal with. Or other times when I'm starting to lose the passion or the dreams that God has placed in me. I'll wake up and hit the snooze button and say, Not Today, I just don't want to do it. I don't think I have 24 hours of being a Christian in me.

I've heard that in marathoning the most difficult part is the training. It is stretched out over months and covers a few hundred miles. It takes discipline, it takes perseverance and even support from others. It's the same way with being a follower of Christ.

Life is a marathon and the biblical writers pick up this running/athletic theme to teach us how to run the race of life. First, we have a crowd cheering us on so we should "run with endurance the race that is set before us..."(Hebrews 12:1). Second, successful running requires self-discipline which prepares us to "run to win" (1 Corinthians 9:24-25, 1 Tim 4:7).

Probably the most encouraging idea to me, when I don't feel like being a Christian is the fact that "God has given us everything we need for living a godly life" (2 Peter 1:3). Nothing is hidden from me. Nothing has been held back. I don't need more I just need to tune in with what has already been given. The power is there. The resources are there. So let's run to win.