March 2007

Are You a Runner?

            When I was in high school I went out for track.  It did not take me long to realize I was not cut out to be a runner.  Even though I jogged for several years and regularly went 3-5 miles every morning, I was never a runner.  I think I quit the high school track team after a couple of practices. 

            I didn’t like the fact that it made my lungs feel like they were on fire.  I didn’t like being so exhausted that I thought I would collapse.  Most of all, I didn’t like the fact that the race was only a small part of what I was supposed to do.  The coach actually expected me to practice — to run every day.  I couldn’t believe it. 

            But I did learn several things about track.  The really fast guys ran the 100 meter dash.  (Back then, they actually measured in yards.)  These runners gave every once of energy they had for a few seconds, and then their race was over. 

            There was also a middle distance race, anywhere from 800m meters to 3000m.  This race is run a little slower, but takes more endurance. 

            Then there were relay events.  You ran a lap and then you would pass a baton to the next guy.  It was a team effort.  Just as you got tired, you passed it to the next runner who took up where you left off. 

            And then there were the hurdles.  You not only had to run, but you had to jump over several barriers that someone had put on the course.  This is something I could never do with my short legs.  The guys who ran hurdles looked like gazelles with their long legs gliding over the hurdles. 

            And then there were the long distance runners.  They went cross-country.  Here endurance was everything. 

            Over the years, I have seen many people begin their race in the Christian life.  Some, like me, on the high school track team, quit before they began.  Others were excellent at the short sprint, but they had no endurance and did not last long.  Others, like the relay race runners, understood that it was a team effort, and knew they had to do their best, and when they reached the end of their ability they reached out for help — always working as a team.  Some had enough endurance to run the medium distance race.  Some were able to face the hurdles in life and keep going.  They never let the barriers stop them, and overcame many obstacles in their lives.  And then there were the long distance Christians who just kept going no matter how difficult things became.  They had enormous endurance. 

            Paul wrote: “Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly”(1 Corinthians 9:26).  I want to be like him. 

In the race for the long run,      

Rod