Have you ever run a 50k? Me neither. But I'm going to. I am preparing to run a 50 kilometer race at the end of the month: The Flatrock 50k in the Elk River State Park near Independence. That’s 31 miles if you’re still doing the math. I have never run that far before! I’ve done marathons, but this is what they call an ultramarathon. I’ve been training all summer and have racked up some serious mileage. I run in the heat, I run at night, I run in the rain, I run when I’m tired and I keep running when it starts to hurt. Because the way to learn endurance is to endure. You have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. That’s the key to running far. And long. And persevering. And reaching the end with a smile on your face.
I know. Runners are weird.
So today we’re going to talk about perseverance. Paul often compared our Christian life to a race, and I think it’s fitting. Life is an endurance race. Let’s look at today’s passage: Phil 3:12-16
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
(Something a little different this week - instead of a written summary of the message, we're linking directly to the remainder of the audio message. Just CLICK HERE for that.)