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“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…” Heb. 12:1-2
“Pursue a righteous life---a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses,” 1 Tim. 6:11-12.
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“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…” Heb. 12:1-2
“Pursue a righteous life---a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses,” 1 Tim. 6:11-12.
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“Oh, but Momma we wanna watch a video while we wait,” my two 3 year olds begged from the back seat of the van.
“Well, we’ll see. First we are going to practice our Bible verses,” I replied.
“Awww, but we wanna watch a movie instead,” they continued to plead.
“First things first,” I held firm.
This typical scene a van-cam would have recorded most days in the parent pick up line was a little disheartening to me. I wanted Will and Wyatt to be eager to approach their Scripture memorization. I felt compelled to use this daily time to deposit Scriptures and songs into their little hearts. I knew I had their full attention; they were strapped in!
Some times were a hoot; some times were a disaster; most times were nothing to write home about, just like life. This spiritual training into God’s kingdom is often likened to a race in the Scripture. I've talked to lots of marathon runners, so I am well aquainted with the training highs and lows, the glorious and the inglorious aspects of long term conditioning and training. Keeping all that in mind was an encouragement to me in spiritual training with the boys. On days when my patience wore too thin to make the time productive, I’d ‘reward’ their training efforts with movie time. But, most days I felt like this time was too precious of an opportunity to let drift away with nothing to show for it.
Too many moms over the years had warned me, with kids at times the days will seem eternal, but the years will always fly. I knew once the boys were in school, my time to deposit God’s Word into their hearts would dramatically decrease. Many voices would begin to compete and even defy the still small Voice that loved them with ferociousness. So, I felt God calling me to seize these opportunities before they vanished.
I assumed all this was for the boys benefit, but as is often the case, God had other plans. One day while waiting in the pick up line, the thought of practicing our Bible verses never even occurred to me---because I was mired in worry. T minus 30 minutes till a doctor’s appointment to discuss a health problem with one of the boys that was weighing very heavily on me. I was at a loss and my wheels were spinning out of control on this problem; our Scripture training was the last thing on my mind.
“Momma, remember our verse time,” Wyatt commented from the back.
My initial thought---‘Really, today!? Today you are going to ask for what I so often have to cajole you guys into?! I can’t help you boys with that right now, I’m too busy with worry. Why couldn’t you ask for this when things were going well and I could focus?’ I thought all this, but I didn’t say anything. They were unaware of the worry plaguing me.
“Do not be afraid, your prayer has been heard,” William chimed in from the back seat.
I started to weep.
What?! Where had that come from?! Out of the mouths of babes and to my breaking heart!
Perfect words at the perfect time. The truth of Scripture was piercing my heart. This had always been my prayer for the boys during this training time in God’s Word. Unbeknownst to him, William had soothed my anxious heart with the healing balm found in God’s Word. God had spoken and I heard! This particular verse was not even one from our van practice sessions; this one came from the Community Bible Study (CBS) we participated in that was diligent about teaching Scripture at every age.
I could not even respond for several minutes. This was the only instance I could remember of the twins asking to practice Bible verses while in the van. I realized our verse time had built a pattern that God would use to speak truth into my life; I was the one reaping the rewards for our persistent training.
“Well, we’ll see. First we are going to practice our Bible verses,” I replied.
“Awww, but we wanna watch a movie instead,” they continued to plead.
“First things first,” I held firm.
This typical scene a van-cam would have recorded most days in the parent pick up line was a little disheartening to me. I wanted Will and Wyatt to be eager to approach their Scripture memorization. I felt compelled to use this daily time to deposit Scriptures and songs into their little hearts. I knew I had their full attention; they were strapped in!
Some times were a hoot; some times were a disaster; most times were nothing to write home about, just like life. This spiritual training into God’s kingdom is often likened to a race in the Scripture. I've talked to lots of marathon runners, so I am well aquainted with the training highs and lows, the glorious and the inglorious aspects of long term conditioning and training. Keeping all that in mind was an encouragement to me in spiritual training with the boys. On days when my patience wore too thin to make the time productive, I’d ‘reward’ their training efforts with movie time. But, most days I felt like this time was too precious of an opportunity to let drift away with nothing to show for it.
Too many moms over the years had warned me, with kids at times the days will seem eternal, but the years will always fly. I knew once the boys were in school, my time to deposit God’s Word into their hearts would dramatically decrease. Many voices would begin to compete and even defy the still small Voice that loved them with ferociousness. So, I felt God calling me to seize these opportunities before they vanished.
I assumed all this was for the boys benefit, but as is often the case, God had other plans. One day while waiting in the pick up line, the thought of practicing our Bible verses never even occurred to me---because I was mired in worry. T minus 30 minutes till a doctor’s appointment to discuss a health problem with one of the boys that was weighing very heavily on me. I was at a loss and my wheels were spinning out of control on this problem; our Scripture training was the last thing on my mind.
“Momma, remember our verse time,” Wyatt commented from the back.
My initial thought---‘Really, today!? Today you are going to ask for what I so often have to cajole you guys into?! I can’t help you boys with that right now, I’m too busy with worry. Why couldn’t you ask for this when things were going well and I could focus?’ I thought all this, but I didn’t say anything. They were unaware of the worry plaguing me.
“Do not be afraid, your prayer has been heard,” William chimed in from the back seat.
I started to weep.
What?! Where had that come from?! Out of the mouths of babes and to my breaking heart!
Perfect words at the perfect time. The truth of Scripture was piercing my heart. This had always been my prayer for the boys during this training time in God’s Word. Unbeknownst to him, William had soothed my anxious heart with the healing balm found in God’s Word. God had spoken and I heard! This particular verse was not even one from our van practice sessions; this one came from the Community Bible Study (CBS) we participated in that was diligent about teaching Scripture at every age.
I could not even respond for several minutes. This was the only instance I could remember of the twins asking to practice Bible verses while in the van. I realized our verse time had built a pattern that God would use to speak truth into my life; I was the one reaping the rewards for our persistent training.
That day I learned that my boys did not need to be eager to participate in every facet of their spiritual training for God to work through the training. They weren’t eager to brush their teeth and bathe, but that didn’t prevent those things from being necessary and beneficial in their lives! I came to understand more of what Paul meant when he likened the Christian walk to race training; there will be glorious and inglorious moments. What comes naturally—sin. What does not, training in righteousness which will look different for every family, but is something the Bible calls all of us parents to.
Paul uses a race illustration over and over again in the NT to encourage believers to hold on, train, and to lay aside all weights and with the goal of finishing strong. Pastor Coty Pinckney offered encouragement he’d received from coaches in the running world in his own spiritual journey in a sermon entitled “Running the Race of Faith”:
[A runner may say,] "Surely to miss training just this once will not matter? After all, there is a long season of it lying ahead." But to miss training once is to open a breach in the wall of routine. And a single breach will almost certainly be followed by others, to the point where there is no routine left. And then, bang! -- there goes your ambition to be a runner.
One of the giants of American track and field, Ken Doherty, put it this way: "Run until the question of not running just never arises."
Take the Ken Doherty quote and apply it to your Christian life: Read the Bible until the question of not reading just never arises; pray until the question of not praying just never arises; resist temptation until the question of not resisting temptation just never arises."
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“By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward---to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back,” Phil. 3:14
“By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward---to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back,” Phil. 3:14
“Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life,”
Phil. 4:6-7.
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