The Race

I am going to go ahead and confess that I can be a bit obsessive. I've been training and racing in triathlons for a few years now and I'll admit that I've, at times, let it consume me. I feel like too often we all let our personal lives stand in the way of a true personal relationship with Christ. Almost everyone has their own vice, from alcohol to television. The thing is that most of the time there is nothing wrong with triathlon, or beer, or the new season of Lost. It is when it is taken to excess, or when it comes between us and God, or between us and our fellow Christians that a problem occurs. I made this realization a while back and that is part of the reason I decided to sell my bike.

Anyway, Cassie, Brit, and I went out to the backwaters of Cheat Lake this morning to read, reflect, and they went for a swim, but I decided to stay dry and warm! I was reading through 1 Corinthians and came across chapter 9 verses 24-27.

24Do 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. 25Everyone 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. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, 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.

Coming from a sports background, these verses just make sense to me. If you want to be good at sports you have to train and likewise if you want to live a life that glorifies God, you must also train yourself. Situations arise in life and sport alike that catch us off guard, and if we have considered these situations in training we will be well prepared to handle them. It isn't hard to live in fellowship with God in the good times, it is when we are faced with adversity that it becomes more difficult. If we have read the scriptures and know what they say regarding our situation we can then take it to God in prayer.

As cliche as it sounds, our life is a race... And as Paul tells us not to run our race aimlessly, but to run with purpose. My goal is to put the kind of passion I put forth in sport into my relationship with Christ and see where it takes me. So far I have changed my life, for the better, in many ways, but I am continually convicted about other issues on which I need to improve. I guess my prayer for the day is that God will help me remove the things that are keeping me from running my best race. No one would run a local 5k with a 60lb pack on their back, so neither should we run our life's race carrying around extra baggage.