DAY 15 | You Don’t Have to Sprint

Mark 6:31

I love the Olympics.

It’s one of my favorite events in all of sports. Every nation sending their best athletes to try to bring glory back to their respective country in front of a global audience. One of my favorite events is the 10,000 meter run (6.21 miles for us Americans). 

I’ve found that, by no coincidence, every time I watch it, I’m usually eating something I shouldn’t be just to double down on the fact that in my wildest dreams, I could never be an Olympic athlete. 

But one of the things I find so fascinating about the 10,000 meter run is that it’s a balance of speed and endurance.

The athletes running can’t run at a leisurely pace because they’re trying to beat their opponents, but they also can’t sprint out of the gate because they eventually get gassed early and lose. This requires an awareness of their bodies and the circumstances to know when to pick up the pace and when to pull back the pace. 

This illustration could be made about our faith walk as well.

A lot of times, when we first give our lives to Jesus, we are filled with excitement and adrenaline and so we want to speed out of the proverbial gate. But Jesus warns us in His parable of the sower that unless there is a deep root, the seed won’t eventually sprout. 

And do you wanna know the truth about roots? They take time. Roots don’t grow overnight. 

At the same time, just because the race of faith isn’t a sprint doesn’t mean there isn’t work to be done.

These endurance runners are running at a faster pace than most people could hold for that amount of distance, but their bodies are active. They are pushing at a challenging rate. And such should be the same for us in our relationship with Jesus. We shouldn’t be trying to run the race at a sprint’s pace, but we shouldn’t be lackadaisical in our pursuit of Him either. 

It requires a fine balance that knows how to carry running intentionally, but running sustainably. 

Considering this, where are you currently?

Are you running too fast with the need to pull back to a sustainable pace? Are you running at a pace that has been too comfortable and now you’re not moving forward in ways that bear fruit in keeping with repentance? 

Wherever you are, recognize that His grace is sufficient for you and His love is calling you to run with wisdom and endurance.