I sit at my desk tonight typing this post reflecting on the fact that I have once again been negligent in my charge to keep all four of my followers engaged with lively and new material on a consistent basis. But at least this time I have a good excuse - sort of.
You see my daughter begins high school in a couple of weeks and I have been working with her as she prepares for her first ever season of cross-country. For weeks now she has been out running (sometimes with me, sometimes on her own) as part of her strength and conditioning program. The most amazing part of all this is that she is doing so w/o complaint or argument. She has discovered the secret to long-term success in this sport whose tag line is "my sport is your sport's punishment." Self-discipline and training have taken their toll on my daughter (and somewhat on me) as she is getting faster and stronger all the time.
Cross country is not the only arena where training and self-discipline prove themselves to be an extremely valuable component of the athlete's success and or failure, in fact there are many arenas in life where this is the case, yet none more important perhaps than in the expression of the Gospel message we Christians claim to proclaim.
This concept was so important and understood that the apostle Paul used this analogy when writing to the church in Corinth:
1 Corinthians 9:24-27Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
24 You know that in a race all the runners run, but only one runner gets the prize. So run like that. Run to win! 25 All who compete in the games use strict training. They do this so that they can win a prize—one that doesn’t last. But our prize is one that will last forever. 26 So I run like someone who has a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something, not just the air. 27 It is my own body I fight to make it do what I want. I do this so that I won’t miss getting the prize myself after telling others about it.
Paul recognized the fact that the Gospel message was to be lived out as well as preached. He new that Christians could not be Christians on Sunday and then turn around and be non-Christians the rest of the week. He knew that in order for his message to be effective he'd better practice what he preached, thereby setting an example for other believers and living a life devoid of hypocrisy.
Training for the Christian life is hard work. There are no short-cuts. If we want to reach the end and claim the eternal prize we must prepare. Sometimes will slip and fall as we run, sometimes (like me after tonight's run) we'll really stink, but in the end the prize will be worth it -- trust me. This is a message we can share. Until next time - Happy Running
