Running

In high school I was on the cross country team and ran long distance in track. I really like running, it made me feel so good to finish a big race I also loved the feeling you got after a really hard work out. The feeling where you can barely move and everything hurts, I liked this feeling a lot because it meant I had actually done something, I pushed myself hard. Since high school I haven't run that much and I really miss it so I decided to buy some new running shoes to motivate me to get back out there and run, run, run!

Running is a lot like the Christian life. When you run, you need to work at it daily or you will never get better, the same is true in the Christian life, you need to daily read the Bible, (the instruction manual on life) and meet with God in order to grow in your relationship with Him. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the game goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." We need to go through strict training, we need to take our Christian life seriously or no one will take us seriously when we witness to them. Do not run aimlessly in your Christian life, but run with a purpose, glorify God and share Him with others! You can't just go to sleep one night and expect to wake up the next day and be an amazing marathon runner, so it is true with Christianity. Developing your relationship with God takes time, it won't happen over night. So we must daily 'train' if we want to grow and be what God wants us to be. 

 Hebrews 12:1-2 says "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." When you run, you want to be light and free, you don't want to be weighed down by bulky clothing and heavy weights. So in the Christian life we to must get rid of weights like sin. And how do we do that? I believe that is found in verse two, 'fix our eyes on Jesus.' When our eyes are fixed on Jesus, it is impossible to sin. We need to take our eyes off of ourselves and put them on Jesus! When our eyes are on ourselves, that is when we become selfish and sin creeps into our lives but if you are focused on Jesus; on loving Him and serving Him, it is not possible to sin. If you don't believe me try it, focus on Jesus, love Him, serve Him, listen to Him....is there any room or desire to sin while you are doing this?