Running With a Purpose

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)

This post was inspired by Mrs. Heck. She may not know it, but she is making a huge impact in at least my life, from feeding me with delicious food to being sacrificial and willing to teach in my ignorance. She is willing to serve us even when we are the ones invading her house, but she is also prone to ask us to serve alongside her by drying the dishes or something along those lines. One of the coolest things that I saw Tuesday night with the Hecks, is that they got a call at around 10 pm from some college students that are friends with their son. They needed a place to crash for the night and Mrs. Heck was off to pick them up while Mr. Heck grabbed us to help him tidy up the house. It was a beautiful example of flexible hospitality, and we got to be a part of it. Now that is just some examples of what our household life is like, where we are learning lessons to grow in our faith and to be better men of God.

I didn't know I was going to say all that above, but now to the reason I sat down to write. Within the first week we were here, we learned that Mrs. Heck ran a marathon and that she ran with a group called Team World Vision. Now if you don’t know much about World Vision, it is a Christian organization that reaches third world people groups by providing humanitarian needs. But Team World Vision is a branch of World Vision that runs marathons or other shorter races in support of third world countries, supplying them with clean water. Providing clean water is the easiest prevention of so many deaths within this world.

So I have been contemplating over this idea of running a marathon with a purpose. Now I really don’t like running, especially long distance (26.2 miles!!!). I was almost brought to tears thinking of crossing the finish line and the result would be saved lives! Now tell me that isn’t a reason to run. Each mile is another mile to saving another child. What a great purpose to run the race! Should we not be doing the same in our own lives? Every day is a day to run the race. Every day is a day a day to save someone from the grip of Hell. We should be running daily, not for our own spiritual health, but for the sake of others salvation. We need to beat our body and make it our slave to Christ, running the race He has blessed upon us.

Run in such a way as to win the prize, not running around aimlessly without any purpose to your faith. We have faith so that we may share it with others. So let us stop being so selfish and lay down our lives for the sake of the cross, that others may live because of our sacrifice (just as Christ sacrificed everything for us).

Because of Him,

Chad