VIRB

well, it seems apparent that wednesday is officially becoming blog about running day....maybe i'll be able to keep it up every week until the marathon in december (hah, just kidding - i know no one really wants that - and i would quit in about to more weeks, i mean let's be honest)

but seriously, this morning i ran again, and while it was not the beast of the 7.2 mile run we did last week, it was a solid 4.2 - and i killed myself on it (anyone ever think your chest is gonna explode?), so just like each week so far i've had time to think while i run and here is what i came up with today........

today's run was considerably shorter than last week's, so as we took off i thought, no problem - this will be easy to run and finish, i mean last week all i wanted to do was quit and walk but this time i would be able to keep a good pace the entire time.......and i was able to keep up the decent pace, but on the way back in the route we took the same thing started beating me as the week before that i didn't think would be a problem.......My Mind

it's almost like i got into an argument with myself over why i should continue pushing hard and running, my mind was trying to talk me out of running because i was uncomfortable, and i wanted to listen to it so badly, and while i was running down the road arguing with myself i realized this....the part of mind that was telling me to slow it down and stop - it doesn't want what is BEST for me, IT ONLY WANTS WHAT IS EASIEST/WHAT FEELS THE BEST RIGHT NOW - and if i ever want to get where i want to go i can't take the easy way, i have to do what is right as far as training for a marathon goes

and once again i realized that this lines up perfectly with our relationship with God, we are supposed to follow God and sometimes the things we have to cross, or remove, in the path of following God is tough, and it doesn't feel good - and as we begin to face tough things (show love to our families, cut out certain relationships, we can't do certain things with certain friends anymore, i actually have to wake up early if i want to get a chance to spend time with God, memorizing scripture when there is so much else to do), none of these things are easy, and we slip into this place where our minds begin to tell us - this is hard and it doesn't feel good, why are you doing it? you were doing fine without doing this hard stuff? are you really going to get anything out of it? you're not going to finish the race well anyways..................

and when that is going on inside of us it is so easy to listen, and follow that voice...and suddenly you trade in the abundant life of following Christ, for one that is easy, and seemingly comfortable, and all the instant gratification you can ask for - and we make this trade over and over again each day - and then one day you are running along and you realize - THIS THING IN MY MIND TELLING ME TO TAKE IT EASY DOES NOT WANT WHAT IS BEST FOR ME, IT WANTS WHAT IS EASY.............and you decide not to let it beat you, and you press on and at the cost of being in some discomfort you put off all the things that are in your way, and you do the things that show which way Christ is moving so that you can follow him.....AND YOU RUN THE RACE, AND YOU FINISH STRONG - it is possible

one last thought - our minds can hold us down, and that is maybe why Christ offers us a new mind.....in Romans 12:1-2 paul makes a pretty clear connection between living a life of worship being hand in hand with that fact God is renewing our mind, and with a renewed mind we can see what God's will for our lives are, and that mind will be encouraging us to run the race instead of fighting us.....how do we have a new mind 1.) accept Christ, God must make you a new creation - there is your new mind - 2.) ask God through prayer to give you His mind - he can do a lot more for us than we can - 3.) READ HIS WORD - as you read, you will learn, and your mind will begin to change into that of Christ's - 4.)memorizing God's word, put it in your heart, the more you know the more your mind will grow into that of God's - think about it - we are offered a new mind, not just NEW but THE MIND OF CHRIST we are able to think as he thinks.......this is a key factor in running the race.........i am not there yet - but i will push ahead and endure to that point

thanks so much for reading another long blog.......and once again hopefully it helped you - it certainly helped me - see all of you at FUSE* tonight