Another Run Today

In the past the only thing that has truly motivated me to run is the Peachtree Road Race.  In March I send off my registration (last year I was able to register online) and the registration for the race was alone enough motivation to get me out running.  This year, July 4th falls on Sunday so I didn’t register for the race.  It’s not that I have a huge objection to running a race on a Sunday, but it has more to do with I’m in the full-time ministry and my job responsibilities require me to be here on campus on Sunday mornings.  So I didn’t register this year, thus I’ve had a harder time finding the motivation to run in general.

This morning I brought an extra pair of clothes and my running shoes and headed out for a run during my lunch break.  Wow, was that hard!  About 2 miles in the run I was completely out of breath, overheating and just plain tired.  I would love to blame the heat, the hills, or some other force that was making my run so difficult.  In the end, I’m just out of shape. 

There are a list of many other things in my life that I know I need to do but never get around to doing.  There are things that need cleaning, repairing, moving, plugging, organizing, and many other things to numerous to list!  There’s always a list of things that need to be done.  Some of the excuses I make is that I don’t have time.  But if I were to be honest, that’s only part of the problem.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I have tons of free time just to waste, because I don’t.  But just like running, there are things I know I need to do but never get around to doing it and it’s all because I lack the motivation to do it.

One of the answers to my lack of motivation can be found in accountability.  First and foremost I am accountable to God for my actions. Romans 14:12 says, “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”  This is personal accountability.  But God has also given me other brothers and sisters in Christ to help me along the way too.   The writer of Hebrews gives us some insight.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:23-25

A couple of things stand out in the verse to me.  One is that first and foremost our hope is in Jesus and he is faithful.  Knowing that Jesus Christ is on our side and He will be faithful in everything He was promised is the greatest motivation in our Christian walk.  But we are not just left with that.  Hebrews tells us that we are to encourage/motivate one another and part of that is meeting together.  Not meeting together just to have fun, or to accomplish an act of service.   We meet together to renew our hope, to encourage one another to live out a live of love and good deeds, and to remember our time is short.  I found this accountability at its greatest with my small group who happen to be my closest friends.

The Peachtree Road race has 55,000 runners all going the same direction for the same finish line.  When running the Peachtree I rarely stop to walk.  This is not because my training has been great but because the fact that I have 55,000 people surrounding me that haven’t given up either.  There’s power in numbers when it comes to encouragement.  We need that same encouragement and motivation when it comes to following Christ.  We need to look to our left and right to realize that we can’t stop.  We can’t slow down.  We need to press on because we are not alone.

Little Dogs Make Your Run Faster

Every spring I make a commitment to start running. This year I found a new running path up Bell Rd and into a neighborhood called Cedarbrook .  Cedarbook is your average neighborhood, not too nice but not great either.  The run is easy for me because it’s close enough to my house that I don’t have to get in the car.

Here’s the thing about Cedarbook, there’s about two or three houses that have little dogs.  They all are some type of chihuahua, beagle, or other little dog mix.  The problem is that they are not chained up or inside a fence.  So when I come running, all the sudden I hear the yelping of a little dog barking at my heels.  Several things run through my mind, should I run faster and out run the dog?  Should I turn around and chase the dog back to its house.  I always wonder how I would react if one of the dogs actually bit me on the ankle.  What would I do to the dog then?  Yup, I’ll admit at that point I have thoughts of kicking the dog.  In the end, I pick up my pace just slightly, step a little higher and keep moving forward.  After about two houses the dog realizes that he’s out of his master’s territory and leaves me alone.  O the joys of running.

I believe that running has parallels with life.  3 times the apostle Paul writes about the Christian life is like running a race (1 Cor. 9:24; Gal. 2:2; Gal. 5:7).  The writer of Hebrews also says something about running, “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” (Hebrews 12:1).    I see the little dogs barking at our heals similar to “the sin that so easily entangles”.  The little dogs are just a distraction.  They are just trying to get us off course and to lose our focus on the race before us.  If we give into the fear of the little dogs, we change course, change our pace, and if they give them too much control they keep us from running completely.

So the question for today is what little dogs are barking at your heals?  Where is Satan trying to tempt you?  Where is the evil one trying to distract you and get you of course as you follow Christ in the race of life?  In the end keep on running!