Running Analogies.....

The activity of running holds a wealth of analogies for our relationship with Christ and subsequent journey as Christians in a foreign world. The running group I am a part of learned this lesson in full force Saturday. This past Saturday was our 6 mile training run for a half marathon that we will run in less than a month. The night before was very stormy and we had plans to cancel the run should the weather not clear before our scheduled time. Well, the active weather kept many of us up several times during the night zapping our energy. Also, no one really thought we would be able to run since the forecast predicted that the heavy storms would stick around until at least mid-day on Saturday and therefore weren't really prepared mentally or physically to go. Add on a bit of sickness and crazy weeks for everyone and we were all a mess by 7:30am on Saturday. Well, the storms cleared early and we started out only 45min after our original time but it was HARD! Soon after, this came to mind:

Hebrews 12:1 calls us to, "...run with endurance the race that is set before us." Our Christian walk is not often a walk but rather a steady, sometimes hilly, run. Often our run begins strong. After only a short distance, we begin to settle in and it feels like we could go forever. As the distance increases and the sun begins to beam down, our legs start to tire. Our joints ache and we feel the weight of the pavement with each crash of the foot. It is just at this time that we begin to question why we began this run in the first place? Is the goal really worth it? And, while in running the goal may be to improve the shape of your body or finish a distance race, the prize for continuing to run the race set out for us by Christ is much greater. As we fix our eyes on Christ we are no longer following the leader of the pack or beating our best time, in fact, we are no longer worried about ourselves. We simply concentrate on the one who makes it all worth it.....Jesus Christ....and we keep running....maybe even speed up. We run no matter what. When we are tired, we run. When the weather is unfavorable but Christ calls, we run. When we have had the weight of the world poured on our shoulders...we look at Christ....and then we run.

Throughout the Christian life we are going to face ups and downs and turmoil that threatens to throw us off course or at least get us off the pace a bit....however, Christ sustains us and makes it possible for us to keep "running." His prize is much more than an extravagant finishers medal....He gives us the one thing our souls scream out for...Himself.

Thank you LORD for sustaining us and for being our great reward.....our inheritance. Give us the strength to run the race set out for us!