Running
Without Weariness; Walking Without Fainting
Isaiah
40:28-31, 1
Corinthians 9:24-27
Many
people have been tired out by life’s problems and today’s
passage tells us that even the young grow weary and are tired.
It is therefore not surprising that many want to retire early
in the hope for a slower pace. However, this should not be for
the church. We are here for the long haul. Christian living is
a long distance endurance race. God knows that and in today’s
passage, He tells us what is required to finish that race well.
1.
Training (1 Cor 9: 27)
Take care of your physical body. All
acts of service are done using our bodies. Therefore, we need
to keep ourselves physically fit. If you do not look after yourself,
someone else will have to and that becomes his ministry. 2 bodies
will be out of the action when it could have been 2 Christians
going out to serve God. Paul disciplined his body. “Discipline”
means “keeping it under”. This means that if your
calling is to do mission work in remote places, ensure that you
are fit enough to do the task. Your mind must control your body
and your eating habits and not the other way around. Have enough
sleep.
Train your soul. Your soul is your emotion,
mind and will. When you become a Christian, your soul does not
become new, your spirit does. Anger, hurt, bitterness, pain, disappointment
etc that you felt and harboured before you became a Christian
does not miraculously disappear once you become a Christian. How
do you let go of your past trauma so that it does not haunt you
as go on in your Christian life? You will need to renew your mind
and emotions (Romans 12:2). Instead of disappointment and regret,
the Bible tells us to rejoice. Joy is something supernatural that
only God can give. Renew your mind with God’s word. Allow
the Bible to transform your thinking. Bible study is not simply
informing, it must be transforming so that in your soul, you can
overcome challenges such as grief and worry which find their source
in your fears. The word of God transforms the way we enter difficult
circumstances in our lives.
Train your spirit. We need to distinguish
between what is gut feel and what is of the Holy Spirit. The gut
feel is often times coloured by our upbringing and prejudices.
The Holy Spirit is of God. In the military, soldiers keep step
by having one eye on the marker. We keep step by keeping our eyes
on the Holy Spirit. The Greek text indicates that the soul and
the spirit are different things. His Spirit communicates to our
spirit. Much Christian training is intellectual. We need to take
what is intellectual before God and ask Him to reveal to us what
His word is truly saying.
2.
Nutrition
Food for the body. Keep yourself healthy.
Watch what you eat.
Food for the soul and spirit. Hebrews
5:14 & Peter 2:2 speak of spiritual maturity. Don’t
just read the Psalms or the Synoptic Gospels, read the difficult
books of the Bible like Romans, Hebrews and Revelations. Food
is meant to be digested and enjoyed, not gobbled down. This is
the same with God’s word. Do not do a 1 minute “gobble
down” of God’s word. Instead, read it carefully, think
about it, meditate on it and apply it so that when challenges
come your way, you are prepared and know what to do. When you
eat, what comes out is energy. When you digest the Word of God,
it comes out as faith which is your spiritual energy. Faith is
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen (Hebrews 11:1). With faith, you can meet your challenges
in life head on, with full confidence that with God, all things
are possible.
3.
Rest
The Sabbath. God rested 1 day of the
week and we need to do the same. The Sabbath is not a day where
you run away from your problems or simply lie in and do nothing.
Sabbath means “taking shelter”. Jesus invites us in
Matthew 11:29-30 to take His yoke and learn from Him and we will
find rest for our souls as His burden is light. The Sabbath is
a time for rest, to exercise our faith in Christ and to seek directions
from Christ in our work for Him. If you do not do this, even if
you start out working for Christ, you will get side tracked and
soon, you will have a “kingdom that I built” and not
one that God has built. This is dangerous.
4.
Coach
Partner
with someone who will train you (Luke 6:40). For instance, you
may well have good administrative skills but maybe, you need to
work on your people skills. Find someone who is talented in working
with people and learn from him. If you do not have a good coach,
pray for one. Aim to be a well rounded Christian.
5.
Team
We
should never try to complete the distance alone. Ecclesiastes
4:9 -12 tells us the benefit of a team. John Wesley was a great
organizer but even he had a select committee which he poured out
his ideas too and asked for feedback which he took on board.
In
any race, there is always the one in the front, a middle pack
and a straggling few who “also ran”. Train well so
that you do not end up as a person who “also ran”.
Prayer:
Dear
God, thank you for today’s lesson on how to run the endurance
race of a Christian life. I pray for discipline in keeping myself
fit and eating healthily. I am bothered by [name the fear or problem].
Help me to trust you, that you are a shield around me and that
you answer my prayers as you watch over me from Heaven. Help me
not to be anxious and to release past disappointments and bitterness
because I know that you can heal me and make me whole. Teach me
Lord to observe the Sabbath so that I can refresh my perspectives
and gain directions from you regularly. Where I am lacking, Lord,
I pray that you send a help mate so that together, we can help
each other be well rounded Christians.
Based
on a sermon by Rev Wee Boon Hup.