My wife likes to run. Lots of early mornings, she will jog around the neighborhood multiple times. Or, depending on the weather - she will go run at a local gym. She has participated in 5K's and half-marathons over the years. Yet, she didn't start her running with a half-marathon. You can't just jump into these things (unless you are a physical freak)It takes time, practice, and training to build up to a level of doing longer and longer races. The first time she ran she didn't run 13 miles. It took some training to prepare for that kind of race.
Athletes know to be ultimately successful, they have to train and practice daily. The only way to get better is by daily repetition. Honing one's skills and techniques is important if they want to be successful. It also requires focus and dedication on your craft, to the exclusion of other things.
"I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" 2 Timothy 4:7
Paul, here, explains the walk of faith like a race. At the end of his life, Paul sums it up in this statement. When you think of races, they can be both long and short. But, I think, Paul is referring to a race the length of a marathon. Not a particularly short race. One that requires loads of preparation and endurance.
Think of races like that. They require a lot of training. How do we train ourselves in our walks of faith? We don't do this to become "better" Christians but to gain a better understanding of God and learn to rely on Him even more. Unlike a marathon, we do not run this race on our own or by our own strength. God is there, running right alongside (and in a lot of cases, carrying us along) as we make our way through this world.
We strengthen ourselves for this race through various ways. There is prayer, studying the bible, going to church, and worship among others. Each of these can strengthen and embolden one's faith. They aren't a means to an end, getting us to heaven, or be better than others. But, these actions lay a stronger foundation on which to run. easier to run on a paved road, compared to unpaved, sandy, or rocky trails. If the foundation you run on is stronger, the better you will run and finish the race.
When you are in a race, the focus is on the finish line. Getting to the end of that race is your motivation. Every other distraction is ignored as the only thing consuming you is that goal. The goal is making the finish line. In our race of faith, our all-consuming focus and goal is on Jesus. When we place our entire focus on Jesus, the distractions of the world fall to the wayside. Jesus is the goal of our training.
Training does require discipline. Runners face distractions in their training which keep them from maximizing their potential. In the same way, we also face distractions. In Hebrews it says "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." It is easier to run when we are not bogged down with extra weight and have the right equipment. We don't want our feet entangled while we run the race.
Racing is also not easy. Hard work is necessary and sometimes we have to push through the pain and fatigue. When running, muscles can ache and maintaining your pace could become difficult. The whole point of training is to teach your body to adapt, become stronger, and overcome the momentary pain. It can be easy to quit and not go any further. But, the disciplined runner, will strive to work harder and overcome obstacles to get better. We will have our ups and downs during our walks of faith. There will be many good days, and there will be rough days. Might be days where we will want to give up.
Luckily for us, we don't run this race on our own. We cannot run this race solely on our own strength. Our race of faith does not rely on our abilities and strength. We rely on God to see us through this race. As I said before, we are not alone here. God carries us. He will be there even when we feel we cannot go any further.
We have been given the tools and we have been shown the course to run. We also have our running partners (the church) and our ultimate trainer that will see us to that finish line.
Athletes know to be ultimately successful, they have to train and practice daily. The only way to get better is by daily repetition. Honing one's skills and techniques is important if they want to be successful. It also requires focus and dedication on your craft, to the exclusion of other things.
"I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" 2 Timothy 4:7
Paul, here, explains the walk of faith like a race. At the end of his life, Paul sums it up in this statement. When you think of races, they can be both long and short. But, I think, Paul is referring to a race the length of a marathon. Not a particularly short race. One that requires loads of preparation and endurance.
Think of races like that. They require a lot of training. How do we train ourselves in our walks of faith? We don't do this to become "better" Christians but to gain a better understanding of God and learn to rely on Him even more. Unlike a marathon, we do not run this race on our own or by our own strength. God is there, running right alongside (and in a lot of cases, carrying us along) as we make our way through this world.
We strengthen ourselves for this race through various ways. There is prayer, studying the bible, going to church, and worship among others. Each of these can strengthen and embolden one's faith. They aren't a means to an end, getting us to heaven, or be better than others. But, these actions lay a stronger foundation on which to run. easier to run on a paved road, compared to unpaved, sandy, or rocky trails. If the foundation you run on is stronger, the better you will run and finish the race.
When you are in a race, the focus is on the finish line. Getting to the end of that race is your motivation. Every other distraction is ignored as the only thing consuming you is that goal. The goal is making the finish line. In our race of faith, our all-consuming focus and goal is on Jesus. When we place our entire focus on Jesus, the distractions of the world fall to the wayside. Jesus is the goal of our training.
Training does require discipline. Runners face distractions in their training which keep them from maximizing their potential. In the same way, we also face distractions. In Hebrews it says "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." It is easier to run when we are not bogged down with extra weight and have the right equipment. We don't want our feet entangled while we run the race.
Racing is also not easy. Hard work is necessary and sometimes we have to push through the pain and fatigue. When running, muscles can ache and maintaining your pace could become difficult. The whole point of training is to teach your body to adapt, become stronger, and overcome the momentary pain. It can be easy to quit and not go any further. But, the disciplined runner, will strive to work harder and overcome obstacles to get better. We will have our ups and downs during our walks of faith. There will be many good days, and there will be rough days. Might be days where we will want to give up.
Luckily for us, we don't run this race on our own. We cannot run this race solely on our own strength. Our race of faith does not rely on our abilities and strength. We rely on God to see us through this race. As I said before, we are not alone here. God carries us. He will be there even when we feel we cannot go any further.
We have been given the tools and we have been shown the course to run. We also have our running partners (the church) and our ultimate trainer that will see us to that finish line.
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