Running The Race

This is the first of 10 articles Published in ConXion magazine 2011.

Happy New Year! Have you started the year running? I’m not talking about physical exercise, so breathe easy, grab a cuppa and read on!

I started the year running, but I feel like I am already behind as I attempt to complete things I didn’t finish last year and catch up on my list for this year which is getting longer by the day. As I think about what I want to accomplish this year my shoulders sag slightly, my head dips and my pace slows. This isn’t the way it’s meant to be!

So today I am going to stop.

I’m already late, already behind, already burdened by the weight of what has to be done. But when I think and pray about what it is that God would like to accomplish through me there is a gleam in my eye, a lifting of my chin and spring in my step.

The analogy of running a race is used many times in the New Testament to describe our journey as Christians so this year in ConXion I’d like to ‘run’ you through some of those likenesses and encourage you in the journey that God has for you this year.

Instead of prioritizing my time and energy to achieve all of my goals for the year, I remember Philippians 3 where Paul writes about the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord, with the goal that we may gain Christ, and be found in Him, having the righteousness not of ourselves but from God, through Christ. I love his quote: “Forgetting what is behind and straining to what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)

With the goal of truly knowing Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and having our strength, our security and our sanity in Him, we will accomplish what He has planned and will find that our feet and our hearts are lighter as we run the race he has marked out for us.

Are you ready to run?