Up and Moving
May 7
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.
1Corinthians 9:24
Carl rubbed the sleep from his eyes and swung his feet to the floor. The digital clock read 4:15. Maybe I oughta just stay in bed this morning. After all…I don’t have to leave for work until 8:00. But as much as his flesh wanted him to pull the covers back over his head, his spirit knew he would feel differently about things once he was up and moving. Twenty minutes later, in the second mile of his run, that fact was being born out.
Carl was training for an upcoming marathon. And although he’d been running each morning for more than ten years, the debate over whether to stay in bed or go for his morning run was a familiar one. It never lasted more than a moment these days but he remembered when he’d first begun running. It had required determination to overcome the desire to lie back down. Carl had never forgotten his coach’s admonition: “If you fail to prepare properly you will most certainly not perform at the level you expect.”
By ascribing to his coach’s training philosophy, Carl had improved his personal best in almost every race he’d run, and was now considered a worthy opponent by his peers.
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Our spiritual life must be lived with this same level of conviction and determination. If we are to rise above the temptation to lay down in defeat we must live with purpose, fostering a winning spirit.
Paul says we’re fooling ourselves if we run with anything less than the expectation of winning, because if we fail to give the best we have each and every day, we’ve already begun to lose the race.
When Satan plants seeds of indifference, “Stay home today, you’re tired… or…You can let devotions go today…you’re on top of things,” we can only blame him for the whisper; whether we lie down or persevere is our choice.
Paul exhorts us to win! If you’re tired, encourage yourself to prevail…you’ll feel differently about things once you’re up and moving!
Prayer
“Birth in me a determination to excel in my spiritual life, Lord. Awaken in my spirit a desire to run to win! In Jesus’ Name, amen.”
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