How I Learned to Run.

If you're anything like me, then you HATE running. Hate it. It's not like I haven't tried it, but after one or two blocks, my sides start getting achy and I get breathless and I can hear the blood rushing in my ears...it's no fun. I just hate it.

I don't know how many times I've heard this, but the Christian life is race. If you don't believe me, just ask the writer of Hebrews. (Hebrews 12:1-2a [mouse over to read]) Anyway, I was thinking about this the other day in the context of getting closer to God. If the Christian life is supposed to be a race, what is the prize? The prize is getting closer to Christ with each bounding step. So why aren't more people running it?

Well, it's a lot like a physical race. Why do you think people wear those teeny little running shorts and tank tops? Because if you run wearing jeans and a turtleneck, you're not gonna last long. Why? Because they wreck your speed and your endurance. Jesus equates sin with things that weigh us down. Why does sin weigh us down? Again, if you're anything like me, you have a hard time forgiving yourself even when you know that God has forgiven you. So we pile these weights of sin on ourselves because we feel powerless to defeat them. We fail to realize that if we're saved, we've trusted that Jesus has already conquered our sin. So we're carrying it around because? Exactly. We have no reason to carry it around. It just slows us down.

Now, if you had a problem with your friend and you asked them to forgive you and they said they would...would you keep bringing it up? I sure wouldn't. That's what we're doing to Jesus when we don't forgive ourselves. We're essentially saying that we don't believe that He is bigger than our sin. And I imagine that God is hurt by that. I think that it's exactly like a friendship. When you offend your friend and you end up arguing about it or ignoring each other...when you finally make up, isn't it a huge relief? Why would you want to drudge up the past?

So, I've adopted this phrase. Before I do anything that might be questionable, I ask myself, "Is this running full-speed toward God? Am I holding back or slowing down for anything?" I've found that if you think about something like that before you make a decision, you'll make the right decision. And honestly...not a lot of things fit that category. The "Is this running full-speed" category, I mean. So this may mean not watching your favorite TV show because you know that the content isn't pleasing to God...sure, maybe it's not as bad as some other shows...but is it slowing you down or speeding you up? Maybe it means giving some habit up. It may mean not listening to that band. It may mean not hanging out with those people. But the bottom line is...the people who give up things for God end up getting God's best out of life. Think about it, the faster you run, the closer you get. Meaning the more you spend time with God, the more sensitive you are to hearing His voice.

So think about it. Are you running as fast as you can toward God? or are you jogging? Power walking? Sitting down and watching the grass grow? Now, I admit that I still hate running, but I'm a lot better at it than when I first started. It's all about practice and running with endurance. You gotta stick out the sweaty and potentially scary parts of running and realize that in the end, you'll be healthier and ultimately, happier.