I love running! I used to hate it.
I started playing soccer young, by the time I was a freshman in high school I was on a select team, spending countless hours a week practicing my skills. I was determined to become good enough to make a college team. As I played more and more, I was getting better. I wasn't the best, but my determination made me a force to be reckoned with. Then my sophomore year happened; I rolled my ankle in a small hole and ripped several ligaments. And that was the end.
Why am I telling you this? Well, to provide a little background on why I love running. My recovery took 5 years before I could even run again. 5 years of pain, physical therapy, chiropractors, countless doctors, and complete frustration. It took a year on the elliptical machine and then 6 months of run/walking. Finally, September 26th, 2010 I ran a half marathon! 13.1 miles.
Unfortunately, lately I've been very complacent in my running. Always putting it off "until tomorrow." It's hard work. The first month and a half are killer!! No fun. Running is kinda like my walk with God. Well a lot like it.
My faith is complacent. I go strong for months and months! I conquer something difficult that has taken me months to years to deal with. Then I slowly quit trying. It's not that I don't want to be passionate...I just kinda forget. I get complacent. I assume I'm doing well, why should I fight so hard to find intimacy with God? Why run when I can walk?
Paul warns us of this complacency in his letter to the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 13 :5 5 Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. (NLT)
Jesus, Himself, reveals that complacency is an attitude He cannot stand!
Revelation 3:15-16 15 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!" v. 19 "I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference."(NLT)
So now that I've examined myself and see this complacent faith-this faith Christ cannot stand within me-what do I do?
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. (NLT)
Run hard. It's not easy. Trust me, I'm struggling right now. But I want to run to win! God is so full of grace, and it is His grace that lets me get back up. Search God's heart and know Him. Desire Him. Pray and fight for a passionate faith.
2 Corinthians 1: 21-22 "21 It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, 22and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us." (NLT)
I started playing soccer young, by the time I was a freshman in high school I was on a select team, spending countless hours a week practicing my skills. I was determined to become good enough to make a college team. As I played more and more, I was getting better. I wasn't the best, but my determination made me a force to be reckoned with. Then my sophomore year happened; I rolled my ankle in a small hole and ripped several ligaments. And that was the end.
Why am I telling you this? Well, to provide a little background on why I love running. My recovery took 5 years before I could even run again. 5 years of pain, physical therapy, chiropractors, countless doctors, and complete frustration. It took a year on the elliptical machine and then 6 months of run/walking. Finally, September 26th, 2010 I ran a half marathon! 13.1 miles.
Unfortunately, lately I've been very complacent in my running. Always putting it off "until tomorrow." It's hard work. The first month and a half are killer!! No fun. Running is kinda like my walk with God. Well a lot like it.
My faith is complacent. I go strong for months and months! I conquer something difficult that has taken me months to years to deal with. Then I slowly quit trying. It's not that I don't want to be passionate...I just kinda forget. I get complacent. I assume I'm doing well, why should I fight so hard to find intimacy with God? Why run when I can walk?
Paul warns us of this complacency in his letter to the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 13 :5 5 Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. (NLT)
Jesus, Himself, reveals that complacency is an attitude He cannot stand!
Revelation 3:15-16 15 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!" v. 19 "I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference."(NLT)
So now that I've examined myself and see this complacent faith-this faith Christ cannot stand within me-what do I do?
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. (NLT)
Run hard. It's not easy. Trust me, I'm struggling right now. But I want to run to win! God is so full of grace, and it is His grace that lets me get back up. Search God's heart and know Him. Desire Him. Pray and fight for a passionate faith.
2 Corinthians 1: 21-22 "21 It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, 22and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us." (NLT)
