Distance Running

“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”Hebrews 12:1-2

Me, while running.

In recent years I have become hooked on running. Mainly for fitness, and also for stress reduction. I try to run three times per week, as a matter of habit. I mostly use the treadmill at the Y (I like air conditioning!), but about once each week I will run around my neighborhood.

When I first started running, I would run for about 2 or 2.5 miles. Gradually, I have increased that distance to about four miles. The other day, on my neighborhood run, I ran my own 10K, a little over 6 miles. Some day I might try to run in a race, maybe even shoot for a half marathon.

So, I also have a Fitbit that tracks my steps, heart rate, and a few other things. The Fitbit app on my phone uses GPS that can actually show where I ran. I tried it the other day, and here is the display of my route:

As you can see, I kind of went all over the place around town. Up and down main thoroughfares, on side streets; by the looks of the tracking app I even ran halfway across the Black River without falling in. (Just kidding – it's a closed-down bridge that no longer appears on mapping apps, so it looks like I walked on water. Who did you think I was – Jesus? I don't think so.)

Ultimately I made it to my goal, which was to be able to walk upright into my house at the end of the run. I thought I had done pretty well, until I found out that one of my Confirmation class members ran the same distance nine minutes faster than I did. I guess I'm old.

Anyway, I see a metaphor for faith in all this. There are similarities in the discipline of running, and the life of faith.

I have learned that when you try to run any distance, you need to train consistently; and you need to persevere. At my age, I certainly couldn't have started off running 10K; it has taken me a good bit of time to build up my endurance to be able to transport myself that distance without stopping. And I have to convince myself to “keep on keeping on” even when I am tempted to stay in bed for an extra half-hour in the morning instead of going to the Y.

In the life of faith, we need consistency. We need to pray regularly. We need to study God's word regularly. We need to attend worship regularly (and by regularly I suggest more than Christmas and Easter). We need to exercise our faith, just as we need to exercise our body. Feeding and nurturing and strengthening our faith won't happen unless we develop a consistent, regular, and frequent discipline.

There is something else that helps, immensely.

Encouragement.

It's amazing how much farther you can run when you have people cheering you on. There was a 10K in Charleston in which about 35,000 people ran recently. And the newscast the next day showed one of the local town characters – a portly middle-aged security officer – cheering on the runners. He was about halfway into the road and he was clapping, dancing, giving high-fives and fist bumps to every runner who passed him. And they all had a smile on their face after they passed. Maybe even a little extra zip in their stride.

Encouragement is so very important to the life of faith. We need others in the body of Christ to lift us up when we are tired and weary and ready to give up. We need to witness what others have achieved through trials, and gain strength from their example. We need someone to cheer us on.

The author of the letter to the Hebrews spends a whole chapter talking about all the great heroes of the faith from the Old Testament, lifting up their examples of perseverance and strength in the midst of tough and trying times. After recounting the faith of those who have gone before, the author then speaks to us: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders... And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”

The life of faith is not a sprint. It's a long-distance run. It's going to take you all over the map. It requires discipline, endurance, perseverance.

Let us, then, run with perseverance this race that is set before us.

Together.

One. Day. At. A. Time.