One of the most admired set of persons in the world would be marathon runners. They just show how rewarding a person's tenacity and endurance can be. They fight against their body and their mind, pushing beyond limits so they can get to that finish line. Some of them even go as far as competing in different marathons in the world till they reach their goals. I don't think there is any better example for the word endurance than a marathon racer. One thing we need to realize is that every one of us living in this world, require that same kind of endurance to live through our life span on earth. Life's journey is very long journey where only the fittest get to reach the finish line, and this is achieved by breaking limits with tenacity and endurance. This also applies to us Christians who run spiritual races through out their lives. With this knowledge, let us see how to go through the marathon we face called life;
Training and Making Preparations
Everything worth doing, is worth doing well. And anything we want to do well, requires preparation. Apostle Paul in the Bible compared our Christian life to a race. So like the way an athlete has to prepare for a race, we also need to prepare for the marathon race we need to run throughout our lives. This takes time and a lot of commitment to achieve. There are also plenty sacrifices to make so that one can be fit enough to run till the end of the race. This means we need shake off some of our desires replace them with training exercises like prayers, fasting, studying and meditating the word of God and having regular fellowship with God, so that we may become stronger and fitter to run the race.
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize".
** 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV) **
Avoid The Extra Weight Called Distraction
The pace of a person running on his own is, always faster than that of a person carrying something additional to his own weight. In a marathon race, that extra weight is something you don't need. It not only slow you down, but also makes you use extra strength to keep on going and as a result of this, it brings that point of tiring out closer than it usually is. This also apply to us. That extra weight which is usually the lust of the flesh and sin, tend to slow us down in the race. They are things that we should avoid as much as we can if we want to get to the finish as fast as possible.
" No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.
5 Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.".
**2 Timothy 2:4-5 (NIV) **
"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".
**Hebrews 12:1 (NIV) **
Race With Endurance
Endurance is the most efficient tool that a racer can possess. It is a thing of advantage that will keep you going even against all odds. It is rewarding to have endurance as it can get you to the finish line where the true reward for running such a long race awaits those who completes it. Endurance is not an easy thing to possess, but if we have genuine love for God in us, it becomes easier for us as motivates us to practice endurance.
"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For,In just a little while,
he who is coming will come and will not delay
38 And,But my righteous[b] one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.
39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved".
**Hebrews 10:35-39 (NIV) **
Staying Focused
There eventually will come to a point in the race where we begin to face obstacles that makes the already hard race even more harder. These obstacles just scream at you to quit and give in to them so that you can be relieved of the awful feelings it brings along it. But, when you looking at the bigger picture, you begin to see that those obstacles are temporary and not permanent. You will even get past them with the help of endurance and staying focused on the achievement and reward you get to have at the finish line. This focus becomes a motivation for you to keep enduring, taking everything obstacles thrown at you without stopping. At the end you will realize that it was all worth it.
"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.
14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.
15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them".
**Hebrews 11:13-16 (NIV) **
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