Running, and discipline (like getting smacked), and stuff

Well, if you're gonna make sense of this post, you better start by reading THIS. I just got back from running. Yes, it is 86 degrees out there and killer humidity. Why, you ask, am I running? Why, I ask, am I running? Especially on a day like today when I feel like I've never run before in my life. (Which isn't actually too far from the truth!)

Well, I'm running to train for my very first 5K race which I'm running with some friends from Cornerstone next weekend. It is amazing how at 41 years old, one (namely I) can still succumb to peer pressure! At any rate, today wasn't the best run. I felt like I was carrying around a heavy weight (other than the natural one I have amassed around my waist). This fact, accompanied by my thoughts around our small group Bible study lesson in Philippians 3, sent me to Hebrews 12. "Let's throw off all the hindrances and run with perseverance." Sounds like a plan. (Note that I am talking now of "running" in the figurative sense) But it isn't always that easy. What about the days when you aren't sure what the hindrances are? What about the days when you try to throw them off when all they while they appear to be attached with Gorilla Glue (the preceding was in no way an endorsement or criticism of Gorilla Glue, just an attempt to continue my trend of using lots of parenthetical statements in this blog).

That is when it feels like you're being disciplined. I don't mean in the sense that you're sticking to your plan. I mean in the sense that you're getting smacked. (Remind me to tell you of the paint stirring stick my mom kept on top of the fridge...)

But if you read on in Hebrews 12, you'll see that discipline isn't such a bad thing. The Lord kinda says He uses it on us to make us better because He loves us. (Can you imagine God saying "Now son, this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you...?)

So on those days when it feels like you're "running" uphill...when you've got weight that you can't seem to shed...take heart. Jesus is running the race with you. He may be helping you to run, or He may be adding some weight to make you stronger. The cool part is that He is there...