Hebrews 12:1b
…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
I hate running, and yet I run. Well, I don’t know if that’s right, because when I say that I run, it sounds like I have been running, amd currently running, and will continue to run well into the future. 
So, let me rephrase. I’m starting to run. Yep, that’s better.
The reason I’m starting to run is because I got this crazy idea that it would be fun to run a 5k. The problem with this plan is very simple: I hate running. So there will be no “fun” in the running of anything, whether it’s a 5k or to my neighbor’s yard as I chase their dogs away from the trees in my yard. So, how’s a guy like me supposed to get anything positive out of verse like the one above?
Well, let’s start with the obvious. We’re going to get tired. There will be times that we take off like a madman and think that we can do it, only to look down at the stopwatch and realize that we’ve been running a few seconds and are already breathing heavy. There are times that the length of the race will overwhelm us, our legs will betray us, and we will want to quit. But that’s the beauty of the second part of our verse.
The race has been marked out for us. Now, I admit that I tend to think that God knows me better than I know myself, so I don’t think He just made marks at the big milestones along the race. I think He knows that we need to see progress in the little things, too, so my race may very well be marked out in feet, not miles. Nothing helps me keep going like picking out a driveway, or a tree, or a pile of bird poop and thinking to myself that, even though a mile seems like forever, that bird poop is within my reach. And so I run to it (and quickly run away from it!!) and pick out another target.
Granted, the thought of living an entire life for Jesus can be a bit overwhelming, but what about living for Him today? This hour? Right now?
Even out of shape Christians can do that.
