Pursuing the Heavenly Goal

Scripture Reading
Hebrews 12:1-3
2 Timothy 2:1-13

On many occasions, I have heard it said about the Christian life: “The Christian life is not a sprint. It is a marathon.” I have also heard the Christian life likened to a journey. I believe that both sayings have a lot of merit. I gave my life to Christ in January of 1994, over 20 years ago. It has been quit a challenging road for me.

I wonder how many of you have done some major hiking and/or backpacking? When I was 10 years old, my parents, my dad's cousin, his god-son, and I hiked the Grand Canyon (http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm). We went down the South Rim and stayed the night at several different places at the bottom. After about 6 days, we hiked up the North Rim. It was a very tiring experience, but a very positive memory. It was almost as taxing mentally as it was physically. Especially the last day when we hiked up the North Rim. We all had to encourage each other to keep on going, to put one foot in front of another. And, there were times where we had to remind ourselves that we needed to take a break and rest for a while.

Having been in the Army for over 15 years, I have gone on many ruck marches. For those who have not had the joy of experience it, imagine this… You are wearing a 5+ lb. helmet, carrying at 2-4 liters of water, carrying a M4, M16 or another type of weapon (8 lbs. or more), and a ruck sack with at least 35 lbs. Most of the time when I have done it, we left the barracks early in the morning and then marched roughly 6-8 miles back as a group. Then, when our leadership decided to, we would be released to walk the rest of the way back to the barracks. The thing is, we had to accomplish the whole ruck march within a specific period of time, and it was about 12 miles long. Needless to say, we were all quite tired by the end.

But yet, I would never be able to do a ruck march or a long hike without some sort of training. For the ruck march, we would often do short rucks (as we call them) with rucks carrying anywhere from 45-60 lbs. Although these rucks would be significantly shorter (45 minutes to just over an hour), they would be demanding enough to prepare us for the actual ruck march that we would have to do each year. Combine the rucking with running on a regular basis and you set yourself up for good stamina to accomplish the ruck march.

Speaking of running… Twice a year I have to do what's called the APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test). The standard test includes how many push-ups one can do within 2 minutes, how many sit-ups a person can do within 2 minutes, and how fast a person can run 2 miles. For me, I have to run the 2 miles in less than 17 minutes. For some people, the 2 miles run is a piece of cake. But, for some people like me, we have have to purposely work at our runs.

I do a variety of different kinds of runs to prepare myself for doing the 2 mile run. I will run a longer distance at a somewhat slower pace (right now, my long run is 6.2 miles) to build on my sustained cardio. Right now, running the 10 K takes me anywhere from 57 minutes to 1 hour and 5 minutes. Although I like to run it at a faster time, my goal is to complete the route without walking, even if it means jogging slowly for a while. On other days, I will do a shorter run, usually about 2-3 miles, at a faster pace. My goal then is to maintain an average time to where I would past my APFT run. As long as I run faster than a 9 minute mile, I am good. I will also add sprints, interval running, or something similar to work on my over all speed.

As with the ruck marching, I have to be purposeful in my training. I have to disciple myself to run at least 2 times a week, preferably 3 times a week. Its the same with doing calisthenics (push-ups, sit-ups, etc.) 2-3 times a week so that I will do well. Although I would rather get up early and exercise, sometimes I have things that I need to do in the morning, or my body needs some extra sleep. Then, I have to take time in the evenings to work out. As with learning a new language, studying for a test, or learning a new hobby, it takes time and self-disciple.

The Christian life is the same thing. After 20+ years, I still stumble and fall. Just like I can get distracted or not fill like exercising, I have to pick myself back up when I miss a workout or don't do well on a particular day. And yes, there are days where I go for a run and my body, for what ever reason, is so exhausted that completing it is not extremely difficult. The other day I went to the gym to do my regular calisthenics and kettlebell routine. But, because I had completed a long run the day before and had not taken in enough calories to compensate for all that I had burned, I was not at my best that morning. In fact, I really struggled to complete my workout and had to change some of the routines a little so that I could do them safely.

All of us have things that we struggle with. Whether it is lustful thoughts, pride, mistakes that we made in the past, chemical dependency, healing from abusive relationships, etc., each of these can make life much more difficult. Over time, having a prayer and accountability partner, regular devotions, an active prayer life, regular church and Bible Study attendance, etc., can help us to better deal with each of these. And, each of those help us to deepen our relationship with Christ. This strengthening of that relationship enables us to become more like Him, which is what we Protestants call sanctification. It is an ongoing process, one we will be engaging in for the rest of our natural lives here on earth. Just as it often helps to have an exercise partner so that one stays consistent and is challenged to improve, so meeting with other Christians for prayer and encouragement is very important.

I have heard said once that each of us should have a 'Timothy,' a 'Paul,' and a 'Silas.' Timothy was a young man that Paul mentored to become a pastor. Several of his Epistles (especially 1 & 2 Timothy) talk about this relationship, as well as several places in Acts. That is, each of us should seek to have a 'Timothy,' someone that we can mentor, and a 'Paul,' someone whom can mentor us. And the 'Silas' relationship? Silas was a close friend and traveling companion of Paul. Silas was a close friend that Paul to turn to for help, guidance, sharing burdens, etc. A close friend in Christ. The 'Paul' in our lives gives us someone to look up to and mentor us in our walks with Christ because of their experiences. And, we often have many people in our lives that are a 'Paul' to us. Some for only a season and some who mentor us for many, many years.

The 'Silas' would be the ones that we regular do things with, like prayer groups, family outings, coffee and doughnuts, etc., so that you can encourage each other, share experiences, use as a sounding board, etc. And, finally, the 'Timothy' is one that you mentor. Even if you have not been a Christian for very long, mentoring someone else in things that you have learned is very helpful. To be able to teach something to someone else, it challenges you to learn it well. Even if it's the bare basics, I am sure that God can help you find someone that you can mentor. And, just like the 'Paul,' the 'Silas,' and the 'Timothy's' in our lives can change often.

Just as each of these relationships are important in one's growth, so too is spending time with God in personal and cooperate worship. I know that, for most of you, cooperate worship is self-explanatory. Attending Bible Studies, prayer services, worship services, etc., are all well known forms of cooperate worship. But, you might be wondering what I might mean by personal worship.

Two of the more well known forms of personal worship are doing individual Bible reading/studying/devotions and spending time in prayer. In on, Bible study/devotions, you read Scripture to learn what God has to say to you and learn more about Him. In prayer, you life of your needs and desires to Him and seek to listen to His response. Something else I have added to this for my own spiritual growth is going on a prayer walk.

In doing a prayer walk, I do just that… I literately put on my walking shoes, make sure I am dressed for the weather, and go for a walk. But, while I am walking, instead of letting my thoughts wander about my day, how much I am missing my family at that time, how much someone that I work with has bugged me that day, etc., I spend time in prayer. I pray for those who might be around me, I pray for the leadership of the military base that I am on, I pray for my leadership, I pray for my family, I pray for the country that I am in, and what ever else God brings to my mind. I have found it to be a great way to not only get some physical exercise, but to get some good spiritual exercising. Not only am I praying for others, but I am seeking to listen to God with what He might be saying to me.

There are many things that one can do to help draw closer to God, with others and alone. Just like with physical exercise, growing in one's faith takes dedication, time, and energy. Just like there are things that can hinder one's physical exercising (lack of sleep, physical injury, lack of time, etc.), there are many things that can hinder a person's spiritual growth (unrepentant sin in one's life, lack of discipline, becoming to busy with other things, apathy, etc.). And, just like one can plateau in physical exercise, so one can plateau in spiritual exercises, where it seems that you are not going anywhere.

One other thing that has helped me a lot, both with physical exercising and with spiritual growth, is the setting of goals. I'll give you an example of when I do the 10K/6.2 mile run. On the course that I run, there are a number of large buildings or other landmarks that I pass by. During my route, I focus on the next goal that I am running towards. At one point, there is a long distance between some of the landmarks. But, throughout the rest of the course, the landmarks are much closer together. I take advantage of this and constantly remind myself that “Building 123” is my next goal, as I am approaching it. When I get close, I remind myself “Almost to Building 123, tower XT is my next goal.” And, as I get close to that goal, I focus on that goal and what the next one is. Even when my body is feeling extremely tired, that has really helped me to stay focused and at least maintain a jogging pace.

The same can be applied to one's spiritual life. Setting small goals and 'landmarks' throughout the week, and one's life, to help keep you focused. For example, one goal might be to read a Psalm a day. Or, you might focus on studying each of the Minor Prophets. Another goal could be setting aside a specific time during the day to do 5-10 minutes of devotions and prayer. Another could be to meet with a friend who is also a Christian once a week for coffee, going for a walk, or something else where you can share prayer requests, insights, etc. While I was stationed at FT Bragg, my prayer life was deeply blessed by a friend we spent a few minutes most days talking and praying. It became a 'running joke' between us with one of us would start the prayer (dial) and the other would end it (hang up). Considering the fact that we usually did this over the phone, it was quite appropriate. Even when one, or even both of us, were in the field, we tried to do this at least weekly. It was something that both of us really benefited from.

As we journey through life, we will encounter all sorts of joys, headaches, sorrows, and excitements. The same is true with our spiritual walks. Just as it makes things easier sharing the joys, sorrows, etc., of life with others, so it is with one's spiritual walk. I encourage each of you reading this blog entry (and, yes, I know it is rather long), to seek out ways to improve you walk with Christ. It will take time and the road may often be bumpy. But, I know that I have been richly blessed by the different things that I have done over the years. And, my life has been even more difficult when I have not been disciplining myself spiritual. So, therefore I seek to learn from my mistakes (and apathy) and draw closer to Christ, “the Author and finisher” of my faith.