My 10-year-old niece is training to do a 5K. Her running schedule is dependent upon the adults in her life. She took a four-day break this past weekend where she just “ran around” with her friend throughout the day. Her race is Halloween, so it was really important that she stay on the schedule that had been set for her when she started training.
I was with her the day before she took her break and she did an amazing job. She ran her allotted time (20 Minutes) out of her 30 minute practice. Compare that to the day after her four-day break, where she was ready to quit the entire thing after one lap of running. She struggled to run two laps and walk the rest of her time. I have every bit of confidence that despite the setback, she will do great tomorrow.
It is much the same in our Christian walk. We have to discipline our self daily. It is not enough to stretch our spiritual muscles by obtaining more information, developing spiritually without purpose. We also can’t take long breaks and expect to stay spiritually sharp.
We will fail to be ready if we are not running the race of faith daily. It’s not enough to just read our Bible, pray, and attend church. That may help us train, but the only way to stay in the race is to build our faith, by putting what we learn in to practice. We must be diligent in our training, but also in using what we have learned. We have to run out what has been developed in us. Otherwise we run the risk of giving up in tough times or being disqualified because we can’t live up to what we preach.
Our faith is grown as we put the things we learn in to practice. Head knowledge will not carry us through the difficult times, it will likely disqualify us as we backslide. We need a revelation that God will do what His word promises. That comes from putting it in to practice and seeing that God’s Word really is applicable in our daily lives. Our faith grows as we see God come though. That allows us to believe for bigger things. We have to run and not grow weary to win the race.
Restoring Voice 
Great post 🙂 Such great analogies!
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Thank you! Thanks for stopping b y
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