The Run
The last couple of weeks, I’ve started a workout that involves a lot of running.
(Once you’ve picked yourself up off the floor, keep reading…)
The bursts of running in the workout are excruciating but exhilarating. I wind up sore and winded, but there’s a feeling of satisfaction at the end. I look forward to the workouts, feel tortured during them, and experience a mixture of relief and gratification when the running is done.
Obviously, I don’t do it perfectly. I tend to start out running full-on and not pace myself so well. Later on, I find myself feeling like I’m going to drop dead. I’m sure if I asked any fitness expert, I’d be told that’s not the way to get the most out of working out. And I’m sure any avid 5K runner would advise me never to tackle a race that way.
Apparently exercise is a good metaphor for spiritual discipline, because Paul makes the comparison in 1 Corinthians:
24 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.
25 Everyone who competes in the games 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.26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.27 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.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV)
So in my spiritual life, I tend to do the same things in my workouts. I don’t pace myself. I push and push and run and run, serving until I drop or consuming knowledge until I’m overloaded. I don’t stop to rest often enough. It’s a recipe for burnout or certainly a less effective walk.
I’m working out to get in better shape, lose weight, and be more healthy. I’m not training to win a race; I’m not even sure I’ll ever even enter a race.
In my walk with Christ, it’s different, because the stakes are higher. Spiritually, I want to win. I want to succeed. I want to challenge myself and become a better disciple every day.
For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
1 Timothy 4:8 (NIV)
Photo by lucas Favre on Unsplash