Devotions for runners

[Pressing_On]

Phillipians 3:13- Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.

One thing every competitive runner knows is that you never look back. When you are running you don't look behind you to see the status of the other runners because you will not only lose ground and speed but you will also mess with your psychological state. In the same way in our Christian walk we cannot constantly be looking behind us to see what others are doing. If we do we may become discouraged. Instead we need to fix our eyes on the goal: Becoming more Christlike.

 

[Pressing_On]

Philippians 3:14- I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

As runners the goal is to reach the finish line the fastest. And that is hard sometimes, especially in the longer races. After you've run for a little bit fatigue begins to set in and your body and mind seem to be fighting against each other. As Christians our goal is to become more like Christ. It's very hard sometimes. We suffer persecution from ourselves as well as our friends, family and the world. It is emotionally, psychologically and physically draining and at times we feel like we just can't move on. But we have to over ride our feelings of loneliness and frustration and press on towards our goal, just as runners have to over ride all their feelings of pain and exhaustion and press on toward the finish because in the end it will be worth all our pain and suffering.