Hebrews 10:25
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Today I am travelling up to Richmond so I can spend a few days with my family before I run in my first marathon on Saturday. In fact, I am writing this Evotion on the road from my iPhone, but that’s beside the point.
I’m pretty pumped about it because I’ve worked and trained hard for this, but more so because I’m running it in memory of my brother. I’ll write more about that after the race, so let me get to the point of today’s Evotion for now.
I’ve noticed over the last few weeks an increased desire to frequent a runner’s forum a bit more than I regularly do (which is pretty much daily as it is). Mostly it’s because there are some great people there who have run marathons before and they’re always full of great advice. As the day of my first 26.2 trek gets closer, I’m finding that I can’t get enough of their advice, their encouragement, but most of all, their unwavering belief that I will not only complete the race, but do well in it.
This is, of course, what our verse in Hebrews is about (not so much about church, although that’s the way it’s usually taught). The author has just told his readers that they have a way of access to God and that they can be confident in Jesus’ ability to save them and keep them. He also told them that there would be difficulty along the way. Is it any real surprise that he would tell them to ramp up the encouragement as they see the Day approaching? Of course not. All of us need in our faith exactly what I’ve needed the last few weeks: kind and honest words about what awaits us on the road ahead along with the encouraging words about how we can trust the process.
I will return from Richmond with a finisher’s medal, and you and I will both finish the greater race we’re running.
They’ll be crowns at the end of that one.
Great application, Paul! As I ran my first race ever, I remembered Hebrews 12:1, which tells us that as we run our race, we have a cloud of witnesses all around us. It’s always encouraging to know that as we run, we have the saints actually cheering for us!
Thinking of ya. You’re going to love your first 26.2. Enjoy every mile! I already can’t wait to read the race report.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Hope your half goes well, too.
This is great Paul. Thanks for the reminder that we can find community and encouragement anywhere, even online. You will do great on Saturday. I will be cheering for you from here.