"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable." St. Paul to Christians in Corinth
This morning, I completed our local half-marathon. This has become something of a tradition for me, as this is the third year in a row I have run this race. And over these races, I have come to know a little bit about running.
I have seen the need to train my body, not just to run, but how to endure. I've learned how to sense when I may have a muscle that is in need of rest or massaging. I have learned how to listen to my breathing to tell how much I am exerting myself, so I know when I can speed up and when I can slow down. And I have also learned how, when the miles have passed, you have to be mentally ready to get push through all the way to the end.
All of this preparation has also served to open my eyes up a bit to our lives as Christians. I have come to see that our faith life is a marathon, not a sprint (yes, I know I only ran a half, but no worries, the full one comes up in three weeks, so expect me to revisit this topic then). And yet, this is where I feel that I, and many other spiritual leaders, have failed to prepare God's people for this endurance run, which Paul mentioned in the verse above.
If you start off in a sprint when running a half marathon, you are going to be walking after a couple of miles. So also, when we see people come to faith in Jesus, we often put them in positions where they are sprinting out with their faith. We get them involved in as many things as we can, hoping to nurture the momentum of their new faith. But you can only sprint so far before you have to stop. Thus, we have so many who come to faith, but then burn out, and I believe we could have served them better by preparing them for the life of faith differently.
Likewise, you don't just wake up one morning and run a half marathon with no training. And yet, when it comes to faith, we often put people in positions where they have no preparation, no training, and then we wonder why they falter along the way. We may wonder if their faith is where it needed to be rather than asking ourselves if we helped them learn how to go through the marathon of life in being a Christian.
While eating is essential to life, I have also learned that what you eat has a very great impact on how you run. You don't go out and have a huge burger, fries, baked potato, and a couple of beers to wash it down the night before. You learn what food best gives the needed energy for the race without affecting your insides too much. And think of the relation to the marathon of our faith and life. I know I've been guilty of just telling people to eat to feed their faith life (as in, just read the Bible). Imagine how much better it would be to give them a guide, to know when to hit the really meaty stuff, and when to take in those lighter things, like stories. Letting them know when they can take a treat, such as the Psalms or some of the poetic writings, gives them something to look forward to. And then, the basic staple of the Gospels helps to serve as some really good, nutritious, every-day kind of food.
It's amazing how often you can find something in life that relates so well to faith. Maybe above all other things, that is the reason I run. I have found so many insights into my faith since I started, and I hope that you, also, can find something in your life that brings you greater depth in your faith life. Peace!
This morning, I completed our local half-marathon. This has become something of a tradition for me, as this is the third year in a row I have run this race. And over these races, I have come to know a little bit about running.
I have seen the need to train my body, not just to run, but how to endure. I've learned how to sense when I may have a muscle that is in need of rest or massaging. I have learned how to listen to my breathing to tell how much I am exerting myself, so I know when I can speed up and when I can slow down. And I have also learned how, when the miles have passed, you have to be mentally ready to get push through all the way to the end.
All of this preparation has also served to open my eyes up a bit to our lives as Christians. I have come to see that our faith life is a marathon, not a sprint (yes, I know I only ran a half, but no worries, the full one comes up in three weeks, so expect me to revisit this topic then). And yet, this is where I feel that I, and many other spiritual leaders, have failed to prepare God's people for this endurance run, which Paul mentioned in the verse above.
If you start off in a sprint when running a half marathon, you are going to be walking after a couple of miles. So also, when we see people come to faith in Jesus, we often put them in positions where they are sprinting out with their faith. We get them involved in as many things as we can, hoping to nurture the momentum of their new faith. But you can only sprint so far before you have to stop. Thus, we have so many who come to faith, but then burn out, and I believe we could have served them better by preparing them for the life of faith differently.
Likewise, you don't just wake up one morning and run a half marathon with no training. And yet, when it comes to faith, we often put people in positions where they have no preparation, no training, and then we wonder why they falter along the way. We may wonder if their faith is where it needed to be rather than asking ourselves if we helped them learn how to go through the marathon of life in being a Christian.
While eating is essential to life, I have also learned that what you eat has a very great impact on how you run. You don't go out and have a huge burger, fries, baked potato, and a couple of beers to wash it down the night before. You learn what food best gives the needed energy for the race without affecting your insides too much. And think of the relation to the marathon of our faith and life. I know I've been guilty of just telling people to eat to feed their faith life (as in, just read the Bible). Imagine how much better it would be to give them a guide, to know when to hit the really meaty stuff, and when to take in those lighter things, like stories. Letting them know when they can take a treat, such as the Psalms or some of the poetic writings, gives them something to look forward to. And then, the basic staple of the Gospels helps to serve as some really good, nutritious, every-day kind of food.
It's amazing how often you can find something in life that relates so well to faith. Maybe above all other things, that is the reason I run. I have found so many insights into my faith since I started, and I hope that you, also, can find something in your life that brings you greater depth in your faith life. Peace!
Do you think the standard passage-a-day lists offer the kind of guide you describe? (E.g., it's August, so it's time to read Ezekiel's Greatest Hits.) I don't. A challenging but fascinating Bible study sometime might be to decide which passages make the best main course, appetizers, desserts, etc.
ReplyDeleteExactly, which shows that I still have a lot of room to grow in doing this. Maybe we'll have to work on something like your suggestion for our Sunday morning Bible study sometime. We could just examine particular parts of the Bible and figure out what stations of life could be best served with those particular parts, or something like that.
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