“ . . . let us strip off every weight
that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us
run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our
eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”
Hebrews 12:1b-2 NLT
I
recently read the book “Unglued,” by Lysa TerKeurst, and am now doing an online
bible study. Our memory verse for Chapter
1 is Hebrews 12:1b . . . I added verse 2 for me to memorize.
I
love how these verses read in the Message Bible . . .
“Strip down, start running—and never
quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who
both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was
headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything
along the way: Cross, shame, whatever.”
Hebrews 12:1b-2 Message Bible
A
year ago, at age 65, my husband and I made some lifestyle changes in order to
lose weight, including journaling what we eat, exercise, and adding vitamins
and nutritional supplements. We started
walking again . . . 2 miles per day, working up to 7 miles per day. This spring, we cut back to 3 miles and
started doing 1-min “runs” the last 20 minutes of our walk. You have to understand, I have never been a
runner and said I would never be a runner.
My daughter was a runner. She ran
cross country and the 2-mile races in track.
I always told her my idea of cross country is to get in the car and
drive cross country!
Never
say never!
This spring, it was a miracle
for me to finish one 1-minute segment. A
minute / 60 seconds is a long time, and I was sure I was going to meet my maker
sooner than later! But my husband kept
encouraging me and even took my hand the last 30 seconds saying, you can do it
. . . just a few more seconds. Now I can
run eleven 1 to 1 ½ minute segments with a 1 minute walk in between!
As
I run, I have to keep an eye on the uneven sidewalks and streets so as not to
trip and fall. AND in order to finish each run, I have a
mail box or sign or something at the end of each minute segment on which I keep
my eyes while my husband calls out the last 20 seconds.
This is one of my 1-minute run segments. Can you see the red sign WAY at the end of the sidewalk?
I don't lose sight of this . . . my goal . . . my focus point . . . to finish this one-minute stretch
The
same holds true in my imperfect-progress-wrapped-in-grace-ungluedness! I have
to keep my eyes on Jesus and my mind on His word in order to run the race set
before me. It’s not easy. I trip and fall . . . A LOT . . . but . . .
He gives me “do overs!”
The
hardest-imperfect-progress-baby-step for me is learning to stop rehashing. I repent . . . forgive . . . decide to move
forward . . . and up pop those emotions . . . AGAIN!
"We use our powerful God-tools for
smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth
of God, fitting every loose thought and
emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.” 2 Cor. 10:5
Message Bible
Praise
God . . . I’m a work in progress wrapped in grace!
