Pastor Tyler’s Blog

IF WE MUST RUN…LET US RUN WELL

Of all the things one could enjoy doing, it amazes me that there are those that would choose to run. I admire those who train and spend months preparing in order to run half-marathons and full marathons. It’s truly an amazing feat, one that if I ever decide to try and accomplish will take an overwhelming amount of motivation. Yet when I played basketball I didn’t mind it all that much. Put some lines on an 84’ hardwood floor and I’ll run till I can’t run anymore. I can’t explain it; it just doesn’t feel the same to me as running outdoors.

Running is one of the healthiest ways for us to exercise. It burns more calories per minute than any other form of cardiovascular exercise. Every single sport uses running as a way to build up endurance and strength in order to perform well.

I remember Septembers were always a tough month when I was in college. September was training month for basketball season. We would meet at the track at 5:00am and spend about an hour doing various sprints. I remember the worst days were the days when we would run 9 – 300 meter sprints. There were the days we’d run 12 – 200 meters, 20 – 100 meters. It all led up to the dreaded one mile run. If you were a guard you had to be less than six minutes, if you were a post, you had to be fewer than eight. If you didn’t make it you came back the next morning until you finished the mile.

The mile run usually came at the end of the month, just as it was getting cool enough that after running your lungs would feel like they were burning from the cold air. I hated the mile run. There was only one time I had to run it twice.

Running is a stress reliever, a sport, time to relax, a way to stay fit, a punishment, a form of endurance, as well as a survival technique. Running is something we all do. Some run physically, while some choose to run figuratively, or emotionally, or even spiritually.

We run from problems. We run from our past. We run from responsibility. We run from family, friends, and we even have a tendency at times to run from God. We run from our feelings or when something happens we don’t like.

It’s amazing how many people in the Bible were runners. Abraham ran to get a calf. Lot ran from Sodom and Gomorrah. Moses ran from Pharaoh. David ran from Saul. Elijah ran from Jezebel. Jonah ran from God. Peter ran to the tomb. The disciples ran from Jesus in the garden. Paul ran the race that had been marked out for him.

Jesus told us specifically that this life would not be an easy one. But he encouraged us that when it becomes tough, to run to Him. “Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28. That’s usually the last thing we want to do. When we become offended we don’t want to run to our offender and offer forgiveness? We run to escape. We run to find peace and happiness. When we know we made a mistake or wronged somebody, we don’t want to run to them to apologize or make things right. We run to escape, to disappear, to become forgotten. Or when our marriage isn’t what we thought it was, or should be…we run to the arms of someone else, we run to escape the pressure. After all, you always deserve so much better, so when marriage becomes disappointing you need to run out and find love all over again. The last thing we want to do is run back to something that is so difficult or hard.

We like to run from the hard things of life. We want easy, we want peace, we want pleasure and we want it our way. We like to run. Yet Christ is calling us to always run to him. When I’ve hurt my wife, I need to run to Him first. When I’ve been wronged by a friend or someone on the highway, I need to run to Him first. When my bills are stacking up and I can’t find work, I need to run to Him first. When I’m depressed or alone, I need to run to Him first.

When we run to Christ, he doesn’t wait for us to get there. As the Father ran after the Prodigal Son, when we choose to run after Christ, he picks up his robe and runs after us! It’s the only place to hear His voice, to feel His love and be encouraged with the ability to face whatever it is we wanted to run from.
Paul encouraged us to be runners. In I Corinthians 9:24-27 it says, “Do 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. Everyone 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. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, 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.”
Paul tells us we are in a race. We all run. The question becomes what are you running towards? You may be running from something, but in running from something you wind up running towards something. What is it that you’re running towards? You may think you’re running towards relief, but anything other than Christ, will always lead to us running again. I want to encourage you, as well as myself, that if we’re going to run, “let us throw off anything and everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and weighs us down. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for each of us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” Let’s run, and run well.