Perseverance

Exercising is something that I enjoy doing, but only when my body gets into the kick of doing it.  Weight lifting, yoga, Wii Fit...these are things that I've tried and found some pleasure in doing.  My newest form of exercise that has been most successful for me thus far has been running.  Never thought I'd be a runner, and I still don't consider myself to be an avid runner.  I am just doing it to let out some energy and burn some calories (and tone up my body by building endurance). 

When I got done running today, I went to google maps and calculated my distance.  I was never a "good" runner, and am not now...but to me, 3.5 miles without stopping to walk or rest was pretty good!  My best so far! 

I pondered this after I ran.  I remembered the first time I tried this running thing...I was so excited when I could hit 1 mile without passing out!  Now I am at 3.5 and honestly felt like I could keep going.  How did I progress?  What was it in me that was keeping me going?  Why did I keep running almost every day to go from 1 mile to 3.5?  Perseverance.  I wanted to get better.  I wanted to feel better.  I wanted to finish feeling accomplished, and see results. 

How many times do we set goals like this?  We want to feel better, lose weight, get more energy, feel accomplished...and especially see the results.  How often do we set these goals spiritually?  "In 2 months, I want my cholesterol to be down by ___."    "In 1 month, I want to lose 15 pounds." 

What about "In 2 months I want to better understand the love Jesus has for me."?  There is the classic "I want to read the whole Bible in one year."  In my opinion, this is great...but shouldn't you set a more in depth goal?  Just reading is one thing...but God warns us of just reading without meaning (James 1:22-25)  I would suggest setting subgoals under that.  Going through the Old Testament, "I want to understand the importance of those that were in the direct line of Jesus."  or  "I want to see how each person points to Jesus."  It may even be "I want to understand more of what was going on in Old Testament times so I appreciate more of the changes Jesus made in his new covenant." 

Because of our sinful world, we will have days when our runs will just be too humid, or it will rain on us.  Back to my running...yesterday was such a humid day, and I ran my normal distance...finishing strong but really REALLY sweaty and tired...because of that, I was able to run the next day with ease, and much farther.  This is so true with our spiritual runs.  James 1:2-4, 12.  This even hints at a result to our running.  The crown of life...It is a sign of accomplishment.  It makes us feel better, and is our sign of results to our running.  If we are moving a little forward each time, we are progressing.  We develop perseverance because we want to get farther than we did before. 

And like most exercises, you get a routine that when it's broken, you can't get back on.  Just as we are spiritually, if we go away from our routine, we have a heard time getting back with God. 
So, keep running toward Him.  Run a little farther each day.  Set your goals, but set personal goals that allow you to dig deep into your running.  You will see the progress.  I promise.