Recently, my daughter and I began training for a 1/5 marathon. Spending that much time on the road makes you think. I developed 31 devotionals that I hope will be a blessing to those who join me on the trail Each day for the next 31 I'll be posting one. Peace.
Scripture (1 Corinthians 9:27)
“I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
There was a time when my body dictated my actions.
My stomach was my God.
My passions were my prison guards.
I was its slave.
No more.
While I’ll listen to the messages it sends me about my health,
its desires will not preside over my decisions.
Though my muscles ache, I will run.
Though my mind seeks to avoid the battle on the road,
to the road it will go, and I will win.
In my humanity, the warm fuzzy desires of self pity call me.
I will run past them.
And I will win.
I will win over laziness.
I will win over sloth.
I will win over obesity.
I will win over average and ordinary.
And while growing older is one of the realities of life,
I rejoice in the fact that growing stronger and wiser are the possibilities of life.
By God’s grace, I will seize them.
I will win over the desire to quit.
For today, my spirit which is eternal,
my spirit which is captive to the Holy Spirit,
my spirit which has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus,
my spirit will call my body to the race.
And I will run.
Just a thought…
The Apostle Paul understood the struggle between body and spirit. He recognized that if he was ever to find joy and success in life, he couldn’t be controlled by the flesh. His desire was that the flesh be brought into obedience. The flesh desires only what the flesh knows; pleasure and ease. The spirit however, sees beyond the pain of today to the goals of tomorrow. It sees payday after the pain. The only way for us to truly be free is to claim the freedom that comes when God’s Holy Spirit joins our human spirit and through its power to cleanse, sets us free from the flesh. Free to know and experience God’s purity and power. Free to run past the potholes and puddles of sin.
As you run today consider what areas of your life that might be more controlled by the “flesh” than by the “Spirit.” As you, through training, have eliminated some foods and activities that were not healthy, ask God to show you areas in your spirit where His touch and discipline are needed.
Prayer
Heavenly Father,
Help me to win the battle over the flesh today; both physically and spiritually. Help me to discipline my body and my heart. Help me to push my body into a stronger form as you transform my spirit more into your likeness. Amen.
“He is strong who conquers others; he who conquers himself is mighty.”
- La0-Tzu[1]
[1] Phillips Book of Great Thoughts and Funny Sayings: (Wheaton, Illinois; Tyndale House Publishers, 1993), 282.