...Let us run with patience the race that is set before us

About twenty-two years ago, my husband and I started jogging. It wasn't long after, that we decided to run a race. That first race was a real eye opener. My husband crossed the finish-line second from last and I came in last. We realized at that time, that if we were going to run races, and run them well, we we're going to have to train for them. We ran many 5k's and 10k's after that and placed in our age groups in most of them. Four years after that first race, we trained for and ran our first Marathon, The New York City Marathon. Training for a marathon, and running in it, is quite different than running a shorter race. The marathon requires several months of steady training, with a gradual increase in long training runs. After you have put in the training, you are ready to run. Dressing correctly for a marathon is also important. If the weather is cold, runners often wear gloves, a jacket, and often something over their ears. Much of the excess clothing is shed as soon as their body warms up. Another important bit of information about a marathon is not to start the marathon too fast, or you will give out before you reach the finish line. The last six miles of a marathon are difficult for many runners and require some perseverence and fortitude. If the runner keeps the goal in mind, they will be able to continue the race and finish well. Crossing the finishline and receiving a medal is a momentous and joyful experience.

I can't help but think that the Apostle Paul was a runner. In Hebrews 12:1KJV, Paul writes "Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us". Paul knew that many times in life we would have a challenge before us, that would require us to lay aside the weights and sins that would keep us from doing God's perfect will for us. He also knew that many times the challenges before us also required patience and perseverence. In Hebrews 12:2, Paul writes "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith...". If we live our lives with the goal in mind of seeing Jesus, we will be able to accept life, and its challenges. The finish-line and the prize are before us. Even if the way is hard, we can say with Paul in Philippians 3:13b,14KJV, "forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."