run to the LORD

So I've been running lately. It all started after my soccer team lost our last game to a whiny, annoying team. We were knocked out of the play-offs because they out ran us on the field. I went home that afternoon and ran my first 1.8 mile loop with resolve. It's now three months later. At best, my training has been off and on since then- but I've had running on my mind ever since. (To the right are some pictures of what my typical route looks like. beautiful.)

It was then that I somehow got it in my head that I was going to run the Hardwick Fair Road Race, too. There were a few key people that got me turned onto the idea of running. My neighbor, my sister-in-law, and one of my teammates each popped up on my radar as a running encourager. Anyway, I have loved the process of training for the fair race all summer. It gives me a real sense of accomplishment when I run a little farther than I did yesterday and when I can feel my muscles get a little more tight and toned. I love finding a rhythm for my breaths to hit as I make my way down the street. It was really hard to be motivated at first, but the race was drawing ever closer, and I had to push it or be embarrassed at not finishing or chickening out.

I had sort of an epiphany as I struggled up Ruggles Hill Road on mile 3 of the race route. I realized that getting up that hill was so much more about my determination to finish than it was about how in shape my legs were. My mind was going to decide that I couldn't go any further long before my legs would physically give out. It was then that it hit me. It was my willingness to say yes that pushed me up a hill and across a 5.7 miles that I'd never done before. It really took every fiber in my being not to slow down or walk. Exerting this amount of effort and drive is something I think I rarely do. What if I did it all the time? What kind of a person would I be? What could I be capable of doing? My imagination opened up.

I thought about how often in my life I tell myself, "I can't" and then thought about all the possibilities if I would dig deep and say "YES!" to the Lord with the same intensity that I said "yes. I will run this race."

This has made me think back to those questions of free will, grace, and salvation. Yes. Jesus has done all of the saving work for me and the whole world. He came to earth, fully divine and fully human, and died on the cross and atoned for the sins of the whole fallen world. He was resurrected in victory over sin and death. It's His passion that redeems the world to Himself. The work of salvation has already been done- so it's not like there is anything I can do to contribute to my own salvation...but this doesn't mean that I'm powerless or that my actions are inconsequential. Or that God doesn't want me to act- BOLDLY. What could my relationship with Him be like if I ran towards His will for me the way I ran up that hill?

God wants me to say YES to Him with the same (if not more!) intensity and passion and sacrifice and determination that I said to running that race. He wants me to say yes to His saving grace every moment of every second of my life. He want me to say Yes to the Truth. He wants me to say yes to sacrificial love with my heart, with my body, with my actions, with my thoughts, with my praise and with my worship.

What more wonderful task could there be than to say Yes! to the infinitely good and holy Lord of the Universe.

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen. Hallelujah