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After a season of high school football and a season of coaching my oldest son’s YMCA basketball team, I now find myself coaching my two sons’ 10-13 year-old PAL football team. Our first game was Saturday, and we were winning 13-7, but we were looking at third and 18 from midfield. I looked at my 10-year-old quarterback, David, and told him “Bunch Left, Bootleg.”
Competition is a great thing. It can move people beyond mediocrity to greatness. The Bible is full of examples that compare the Christian life to an athletic contest.
In 1 Corinthians 9:24, Paul wrote, “Do you not know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.” I like that! It’s said very simply, “Run in such a way that you may win.”
A while back, a friend of mine gave me a small book called "Overcoming Intimidation" by Keith Shealy. After reading the first chapter, I found a new mantra: “Run toward the roar.” This phrase has changed my entire mindset, especially when it comes to my sport of running.
Whenever I am in training for a race, I often experience pre-run anxiety regarding a variety of things—whether or not I'll finish, if I'll have enough energy, if there will be a treadmill available, if there will be rain/wind/snow, if I'll have the speed I need, if I'll get hurt, etc.
Have you ever noticed that, when racing, runners tend to wear the lightest outfit or the least amount of clothing possible? From the weight of their shoes to the amount of hair on their heads. Why is this so important to them? The answer is easy: because the less you have weighing you down, the faster you will be and the more endurance you will have.
The same principle applies to the Christian life. Several times in his letters, Paul relates our lives as Christians to running a race. When running this race as Christians, God wants us to run with perseverance because He has so much set out for us to do. But, when we allow sin to cling to us, it slows us down.
This weekend Gary Brasher will attempt to accomplish something that most of us would never even consider, much less aspire to, when he completes a triple-iron triathlon. That’s a full iron-distance triathlon every day for three consecutive days! He will swim, bike and run his way over 422.6 miles in a 72-hour span! It is truly one of the most difficult sporting endeavors ever imagined.
Before we dive in with the message of today’s devotion, I have to tell you a little secret. Ever want to know why runners often run on streets instead of using the perfectly good sidewalks that are just a few feet away? Great question! It’s actually because we know that paved surface is better for our joints than concrete sidewalks. We run on the roads because we know our bodies will appreciate the surface of the road more than the surface of the sidewalk.
God’s given me a love for running now. Nothing crazy like it was before, but every time I go on a run now God comes through for me. I learn the most from Him when I’m outside enjoying His presence as I run.
“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
-Philippians 3:14 (NIV)
Driving down the road yesterday I saw something that made me take notice. Coming toward me was a middle-aged man running against traffic. Now, that did not bother me so much; I see that all the time. But what I found strange was that he had his iPod on and was running right on the edge of the cars. Then I broke out in laughter because not 10 feet from him on his left was a beautiful well-groomed sidewalk, on which there was not a single person.
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