Running On Empty

It's funny how we take our day to day blessings for granted. For instance, most of us never go hungry. In fact, often the opposite is true. We consume too much food and are faced with the more difficult task of shedding the extra weight that follows. We are blessed with an overabundance of food.

This past week, while I was participating in the all church fast, I attempted to continue my regular running regiment. After 24+ hours with no fuel I soon found myself wobbling along on weak legs. My energy level plummeted and a run that was normally fairly easy suddenly seemed impossible. I finished much slower than usual and as I drove home I began to think about how this experience was so similar to our spiritual lives. When we only sporadically feed on the truth of God's word and infrequently spend time in prayer, even the smallest temptation or trial can take us to our knees. As Christians, our nutrition comes from the Word, prayer, worship, and fellowship. We need a regular, balanced diet of all of those. If you have ever participated in a 10K or longer race, you will remember that their are aid stations placed along the route at regular intervals. If a runner chooses to ignore the early nutrient opportunities, they will pay the price down the road. You can't stock up prior to the race and if you wait too long, your body won't be able to process what you need. The key to success is to take in nutrients in small amounts at regular intervals.

It's the same with our spiritual life. We can't go to church once a week and expect two hours of worship, prayer, teaching and fellowship to last us the rest of the week. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray He encouraged them to ask God to "give us this day our daily bread". This request wasn't limited to physical food, but included our need for daily spiritual nutrition. Peter wrote, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation..." (1 Peter 2:2-3) If you haven't already developed the discipline of spending regular time in prayer and in the Word, now is a great time to start. And one of the keys to success will be the support of others. That's where the CRT can help. Share your desire to be more consistent in prayer and Bible study with a running or walking partner and ask them to encourage you and hold you accountable. That's what we do. It's all about living life together! We will only have one training time scheduled this week due to the activities around Easter weekend. On Wednesday we will meet at Clearwater trail at noon. We would love to have you come join us. It would also be great if you would join us for our Easter service at the Springfield High School auditorium. Breakfast begins at 9:30 and the service will start at 10:30. Have a great week! Pastor John