I used to be a runner (well maybe more like a jogger). I've done a few 5k races and even completed a 10k once. I really enjoy the idea of running... even though I am not a natural runner. I see graceful people running. Natural runners. They look like their feet barely hit the ground. They are light in movement and free! That idea of freedom is what I love most about the idea of running.
It occurs to me however that there are different types of runners. Those who when their feet hit the ground are off to see what lies around the next bend and are ready to face whatever obstacle might be there.
And then, there are treadmill runners. They jump on and run, run, run. They feel accomplished. They work and work, they get exercise, but their efforts never actually move them from their starting point. They never experience anything new.
Of course there are real runners and then there are metaphoric runners.
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (freedom)." - 2 Corinthians 3:17
Have you ever been there? I know I have. Running, running, trying, pushing, hoping to move forward (or at least I thought) only to find myself in the same place over and over again. No change of scenery, nothing new. Just trudging along waiting for the anticipated results. The only problem, the longer I ran on the treadmill, the more bored I would get. My muscles would get bored too. They would get into a routine, get comfortable and stop advancing. Eventually, in my on-and-off again treadmill experience I would give up. Not much of a change, frustrated, standing in the same place I started.
Then I would realize: What was the only thing keeping me there? ME!
I would get outside. Get into a new way of thinking, start using different muscles, completely changing what I had been doing, and sure enough...Success! A different outcome! Freedom!
I have been in this situation as both a physical runner and as a Christian.
In both situations the one and only thing that could change the outcome was ME! (or at least take that first step)
As a Christian, we have Father, Son and Holy Spirit to rely on. We are not alone in our quest for the finish line. We have a guide, a helper, a personal trainer shall I say. All we have to do is get off our treadmill and ask Him for help.
John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things....."
If you feel like you have been on a treadmill, working, striving, trudging along and getting no where, you have two positions to take; drop to your knees and ask your personal trainer for help or look to the heavens and ask you personal trainer for help. Either way...Ask Him and truly desire to change your routine. He is waiting for you to decide to get off the treadmill and embrace the freedom that He has for you.
In Love-
