I have fought the good fight

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

2 Timothy 4:7

It’s been a bit since I added to this blog, and this is definitely not the post I wanted to write. My brother Greg unexpectedly passed away last night. Greg is not supposed to be gone, not now. We had a race to run – Greg, his wife, and me– the Piittsburgh Marathon, May 6, 2012. That is why this blog started. That is what we both were looking forward to.

You see, I have run marathons before – 7 in all. But over the last 8 years I stopped running. Yeah, life happened – 4 more kids, job changes, getting older. Got a bit out of shape too. And my knees hurt, really hurt – but not bad enough to impress the doctors to do anything drastic. Then my sister-in-law Lynn, Greg’s wife started running. She posted a lot on FaceBook – “ran this many miles, etc” I was happy for her, but jealous. I missed running. Then a year or so ago Greg started running – lost a lot of weight and looked real good. So proud of him. I was jealous enough to give running a try again – actually it was like God prompted me to get back, maybe to connect with Greg, maybe to write this blog. But my knees! Almost a year later and the knees haven’t been a problem. Greg says it was I who encouraged him to run the Pittsburgh Marathon, but actually dear brother; it was you who encouraged me. I wish I could have told you.

Greg has been an encouragement to me. He gave his life to Christ before me and helped lead me to Christ. In return, I introduced him to his wife. We went to college together, lived on the same street for a few years while I was stationed in Florida. Greg loved the Lord, and served Him well. He fought the good fight, he finished the race – he kept the faith. I will miss you brother – but we still have a race to run together – and I look forward to it. Just let me know what kind of running shoes work best on streets of gold.

Until then, I’ll keep running.

Donuts, Running, and Self Control

It’s 5 AM on a cold February Saturday morning.   The training plan calls for a 16 mile run but the body is calling for more sleep, then a nice hot cup of coffee and a relaxing morning by the fireplace. 

It’s 6 AM on a Wednesday morning. The plan calls for reading four chapters in the Bible and a time of prayer.  The mind is racing with all that has to be done today – important meeting at work that I haven’t prepped for yet, a backlog of emails, reports that have to get out, another meeting after church.

Deciding to step up our training – whether physically or spiritually, always brings up a new set of challenges.  The path is not going to be easy, it wasn’t meant to be easy.  But we must follow it in order to succeed. 

2 Peter 1 tells us to add to our faith – virtue. To virtue – knowledge, and know tour our knowledge – self-control.   Virtue gives us the motivation to start, to put aside what hinders us.  Knowledge shows us how to progress.  Self-control helps us follow the plan – even when other things challenge for our time and energy.  It is our weapon against excuses.

It’s so easy to indulge ourselves in the simple pleasures.  I know in order to perform well as a runner, I must watch what I eat.  But I also like donuts.  And where I work they are often plentiful.  In order for me to spend time with God I need to get up early.  I also like sleep.  But those early morning times are often the only quiet times I get during the day to read my Bible and pray – and often to get a run in for that day.  So I’m up before 5 AM.

Knowledge is a wonderful thing.  Knowledge tells us what we need to do to be successful and why it is needed.  Knowledge tells us more about who God is and how we can trust Him.   Self-control helps us put that knowledge to use.  
 

 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 says:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?  So run that you may obtain it.  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.  They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.  So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.  But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others i myself should be disqualified.

 Knowledge isn’t of much use unless we put forth the self-control to apply it.  I can learn all about running, how to get faster, how to eat and exercise to obtain more endurance – but unless I put it into practice and make the sacrifices to apply it, it’s just useless knowledge.  So it is too with spiritual knowledge. 

 

So as we add knowledge – let’s not let it go to waste – add self-control!

 

And run on!