Running the Race with Endurance

I've begun running recently.  Or more precisely, I've RE-begun running recently.  The combination of being out of shape and brutally hot temperatures have kept me from enjoying a nice run in the early morning coolness, but this week I finally was able to get outside and get moving!

As any runner will attest, thoughts race through your mind while your feet hit the pavement.  Sometimes these are silly thoughts, like "I wonder why there's a winter boot, ONE winter boot, laying on the side of the road when it's been so warm?".  Sometimes though they turn more serious, like if the heart attack comes am I better off falling into the tall grass on the side away from traffic but making it harder to find my body, or am I better off falling down on the shoulder where I might get hit by a car but where someone might find me before the flies do.  And sometimes the thoughts are in-between, like this morning.

It dawned on me this morning that the Apostle Paul must have been a runner.  Look at all the athletic imagery he used when writing.  In Philippians 3:14 he said he pressed, "on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”   In 2 Timothy 4 he "fought the good fight" and "finished the course" and looked forward to receiving his "crown of righteousness."  1 Corinthians 9:27 says he "disciplined his body" so that he would not be "disqualified."  Sounds like an athlete to me!

Yet he poured himself into his ministry.  Depending on the source, he traveled more than 6000 miles on his missionary journeys, not counting day to day travel.  And remember, he didn't lace up the latest model of Nikes.  Worn out sandals were all the support his aching feet could expect.

The thought came to me how important physical fitness is in ministry.  As I've lost weight recently, I find that I can count on my body responding in better ways than probably ever before.  As I walk around youth camps in 100 degree heat, I don't want to die as much as I may have a year ago.  When my days start early and end late, I find I have energy in reserve.  When I lead worship on Sundays, I feel myself able to give it a little bit more and hopefully encourage others to do the same.

Building the temple God gave us.  Who'd have thought??