And to your
faith add … knowledge
When I ran
my first marathon I thought I was well prepared. For the most part the training went well. I was confident that I would finish in my
goal time. Well the good news is that I finished
– but about an hour longer than I wanted and not feeling any bit as good as I
thought I would. I had to tough it
through to finish. I wasn’t fully
prepared for everything that day.
If you want
to complete a marathon there is a wealth of advisors to help you do it. You can go online and download any number of
training plans from Runner’s World Magazine or other sites. Some will cost you. Some are free. You can join a group like Team in Training where
you raise money for a certain charity and in turn they provide you with
training advice and help you along the way.
You can hire a coach. But the
bottom line is you want to get some good knowledge – some tried and true advice
that has worked for other people – hopefully from someone who has run marathons
and knows what they are talking about.
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your
faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge (2 Peter 15).
Last time we
talked about virtue – making that decision to take our training to the next
level with excellence – to put aside the things that would hinder us. Now with that commitment in mind, we are
ready to add knowledge. Let’s put
together the training plan! Like
marathon plans, when it comes to adding to our faith there are a variety of
sources. Christian bookstores are full
of books to teach us on just about everything.
We can find many counselors, who can give us good advice on the areas of
our faith that we wish to grow. And I
encourage you to take advantage of these sources.
But…
Our starting
point should always be the Bible. It is
the ultimate runner’s manual for the Christian faith. It is to be the final authority on all that
we do. I like the statement made in Acts
17:11
Now these Jews (the Bereans) were more noble than those in
Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these
things were so.
The Bereans
were listening to Paul and Silas. They
were receiving instruction from two of the greatest saints of all time! But they still went back into their Bibles to
make sure that what Paul and Silas were saying was consistent with the Word of
God.
Marathon
training involves learning how to build endurance and speed. It involves learning how to pace yourself,
and how to refuel during your run.
Hopefully you will learn how to handle running in the cold as well as the
heat and to know what to do when those aches and pains start to occur.
2 Peter 1:3
tells us
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to
life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence…
God’s Word
is sufficient to give us the knowledge we need to run the Christian race. We need to tap into it constantly. We need to weigh all other knowledge we get
from other sources (much of which can be very good) against God’s Word. But we need to intentionally make the effort to
add knowledge to our faith. Our training
should prepare us to take our faith to the next level. It should teach us about the nature of God
and how we can trust in Him in the new situations we will encounter. It should encourage us that when we face
tough situations, we will know what to do.
But grow in the grace
and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. (2 Peter 3:18)
So to your
faith add ….knowledge…and
Run On!
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