Life Lessons I Learned From Running, Part One

First Timothy 4:8 says that,  "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come".   Exercising does have value!  Though my non exercising friends might disagree, can you really argue with the Bible?  I am going to share how this verse plays out in my life.  You see, I have found both parts to be true.  Physical training has had value for me, but it still can't compare to godliness.

I turned 40 this year which is still hard for me to comprehend and leaves a slightly bitter taste in my mouth.  Not that I mind some of what comes with age, like wisdom, but I am just not ready for my life to be half over or my body to be groaning at me so much.  In my attempt to stave off the clock a little longer, I decided to run another long race like I did when I turned 30.  After all, being in shape makes me feel a little less old.  However, I am half way through the year already and I am not accumulating the necessary miles.

As I pondered my dilemma, I began to go down a list of possible culprits.  Well, there is my lack of prior training due to a broken foot, the traveling that makes scheduling runs hard, the weather (hey that is a legitimate issue), the fact that I am 10 years older, and then there is that illusive culprit called motivation.  While these are all good suspects, I have realized it goes much deeper than that. 

The real culprit is pride and the lack of godliness in it.  It goes back to the verse above, that physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things.  I have found that the physical training only has lasting value if its foundation is godliness.  Just stop running for a few months and see how non lasting it is! 

Before we go any farther, we should define godliness.  The following is an excerpt from Jerry Bridges book, The Practice of Godliness.  he defines it as follows:

               Here, then, are two important clues: Enoch walked with God, and Enoch pleased God. It is evident from these two statements that Enoch’s life was centered in God; God was the focal point, the polestar of his very existence.

              Enoch walked with God; he enjoyed a relationship with God; and he pleased God. We could accurately say he was devoted to God. This is the meaning of godliness.

               Devotion is not an activity; it is an attitude toward God. This attitude is composed of three essential elements:

• the fear of God
• the love of God
• the desire for God.

         Note that all three elements focus upon God. The practice of godliness is an exercise or discipline that focuses upon God.

         Consider the exacting requirements of a godly lifestyle as expounded by the saintly William Law in A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. Law uses the word devotion in a broader sense to mean all that is involved in godliness—actions as well as attitude:

         Devotion signifies a life given, or devoted, to God. He therefore is the devout [godly] man who lives no longer to his own will, or the way and spirit of the world, but to the sole will of God; who considers God in everything, who serves God in everything, who makes all the parts of his common life parts of piety [godliness], by doing everything in the name of God, and under such rules as are conformable to his Glory.

        Note the totality of godliness over one’s entire life in Law’s description of the godly person. Nothing is excluded. God is at the center of his thoughts. His most ordinary duties are done with an eye to God’s glory. In Paul’s words to the Corinthians, whether he eats or drinks or whatever he does, he does it all for the glory of God.

In 2003 when I turned 30 and ran both a half and a full marathon that year, it had a value that is lacking this time.  This year it was my idea and all about me not wanting to feel old.  I did not consider God in it or think about it for His glory.  But 10 years ago, it was about God's work in my life.  The desire to complete a marathon was not a natural desire for me.  God used it to teach me many lessons.  And it was His grace to get me through a trying time.

When we are immature in our faith, God often uses people or things in our life to hold us up, teach us and ultimately to draw us to himself.    But once we have been trained by them and grown, we no longer need them.  It is like training wheels on a bike.  We aren't meant to ride with them forever.  And so it is with God.  He is patient with us, lovingly allowing some training wheels.  However, there comes a time when the wheels must come off and we find that He alone is all we need and that glorifying Him is our ultimate goal. 

And so, while I found valuable lessons through the physical training, it is the godliness that I gained that will last forever.  I no longer need running for the same reason I once did.  I have found God to be my sufficiency and His presence to be my delight.  And for this reason I may never accomplish with running what I did that year, but that is okay, because I don't need to.  My running  can have a new value as I see it in its proper relation to godliness.  Now I can run with freedom, for it no longer has to fulfill a role meant for God alone.

This post was longer than I anticipated, but I hope you will stick with me, as I share in later posts some of the lessons God taught me...mile after mile.