...and He sat down so He could run

Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? 

It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. 

Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. 

And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

                                                                         Hebrews 12:1-4

God at times makes no sense to me. 

The world says be busy, He says be still. 

The world says go after it, 

God says give it away. 

The world says you deserve it, 

God says come and die with me. 

The race is already finished and it has been won by Jesus but he does not leave us to die in the field. No, in a way only God can do, he is our pacer, he is at the aid station, and he is at the finish line to place the crown on our head....

He is the guy on the side of the road at some random place, holding out his hand to high-five everybody and anybody who runs past....widly cheering on the sub-four miler and the 18min miler...

He knows what awaits, 

it is worth all that we must endure. 

I've run a numnber of distance races, so trust me here. Many preachers like to equate the Christian Life with a marathon and to quote a classic film....

"you keep using that word, I don't think you know what it means."

They say "its a marathon, not a sprint"...which is true, but they define it wrong. We are told it means to run slow, be patient, it's a long process...

The race is not won or lost or finished or DNF'd on race day...

The race is run months in advance when you slowly begin to build your base and increase your daily millage. It's run when when you get home late and have to get in miles in the dark, or in the rainm, or in the snow because you need to train your body to endure about 60,000 foot steps...

It's run when you have to use lubricants to keep body parts from chaffing raw only to scream in pain in the shower later anyway. 

It's run when your toenails turn black from hitting the toebox in your shoe. 

It's run when you have to taper becuase of an injury, or worse, when you injure yourself to the point of no return. 

The race is run when no one is around...it's the training in the dark. 

The Christian race is indeed a marathon....

It's not about how we perform in public, 

it's how we are formed in private. 

It's run when we have been with Christ so that He is in us...

Jesus sat down with the Father in prayer so that He could run the race to eventually sit down with Him at the end of the Race and claim His prize. 

He could only run because he sat...

It makes no sense to the world, does it? 

That means it must the be right way