Let's Run
By: Kristen L. McNulty
Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.
When it comes to the Christian life there is a common misconception that the Christian journey is like getting on a train. You hop on board, settle in for the ride and keep moving forward in the direction you’re supposed to be going with very little thought or effort exerted along the way. The reality of the Christian life is nothing like that. Our growth as believers, into becoming people closer to Jesus and more like Him, isn’t a passive process. We don’t automatically become more like Christ along the way just because we now have a ticket on the Jesus train. No, the Christian journey is a lot more like a long distance marathon race than it is a train ride.
Hebrews 12:1 teaches us:
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us."
Keep Going So We Can Keep Growing
We need endurance to run the race because along the way we will encounter mountains, plateaus and valleys. There will be times when we sprint full-speed ahead and other days that are more like a crawl. There will be moments where we gain a lot of ground and then seasons when it seems slow going. But through every day we live, we are called to keep going so we can keep growing. We aren’t called to stand still, we aren’t called to take a knee, we are called to grow. This is what 2 Peter 1 teaches us on the subject:
"In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:5-8
As these verses show us, the race we are running gives us two gifts. First comes the gift of knowing and experiencing Jesus. The second gift is along the way He uses our growth to make us more productive and useful in the kingdom. We grow, we learn and we get refined as we run the race.
What Running Looks Like
So let's run. What does running look like? It looks like waking up every morning with purpose and making the choice to pursue God. It looks like getting on our knees and opening up our Bible. It looks like letting the Holy Spirit mold and shape us. It looks like being discipled by other believers. It looks like serving in the Kingdom. It looks like getting up when we are tired and getting in the race, refusing to sit stagnant on the sidelines.
We do this because a few verses later in 2 Peter 1 a warning is issued to those who are sitting on board the train at the station, not having moved forward or grown little since first encountering Christ. The verses tell us:
"But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins. So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:9-11
Let us not forget what we were saved from and what we were saved for. Running the race and growing as a Christian is no easy journey, but it is the only journey on this earth that is worth taking.
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