By: Andrea Plotner
A few years back, while we were stationed in Europe, my husband ran a marathon in Venice (rough, huh?). His time was 3 hours and 19 minutes. Prior to that, he had run a marathon in Kansas City with a time of 3:31. Twelve minutes is a lot of time to shave off a race, even a marathon, so what made the difference? Well, in the second race he had a running partner. These two, similarly matched, trained together several times a week prior to the race – holding each other accountable to make their mileage goals, challenging each other to run faster, and building a solid friendship along the way.
The Christian life is like this. Ecclesiastes 4:9 says that two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. We are encouraged in God’s Word to think of our faith journey as a race, and this could include setting specific goals and surrounding ourselves with people who can help motivate, encourage and strengthen us (and this is one reason why church is important). How about you? Do you have a faith training partner, coach or mentor who will challenge you to meet your spiritual goals? Is there someone who comes to mind?
• I Corinthians 9:24 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets a prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”
• Hebrews 10:25 “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
• Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
