Day 34 of 40 days of devotion
Written by Dave Rowsell
Last weekend I ran my first Half Marathon in 30 years. Nothing that remarkable, other than only two years ago I had just embarked on a ‘couch to 5k’ journey and was struggling to run for more than 5 minutes at a time. I have persisted through injury, lethargy and apathy and, have learnt much about fitness, form, and fartlek. I now run distances and at a pace that I would not have believed possible.
Quite early on in this journey I felt a strong chide from the Holy Spirit – “Are you as devoted to improving your spiritual health as you are to your physical health?” I had to admit not.
I re-read ‘Celebration of Discipline’ with a friend, and was drawn to passages such as Philippians 3:13-14 and Hebrews 12:1-2
“…one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
“…let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…”
It’s an ongoing journey – looking to adjust my routines and lifestyle to get in more miles with God.
When praying about our 40 Days of devotion I felt prompted to add a new discipline (for me at least) – regular, weekly fasting. This in the wake, just a few months ago, of espousing to said friend that I didn’t see the value in such practice. Eight weeks in (and already past the initial novelty!) I can genuinely say my appetite for prayer and time with God has grown stronger. Is it always easy? Of course not! (especially when it’s cold!) but I do think that I’m running a slightly better race because of it. I might just continue past 40 days, too.
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