Run The Race - Part 1

For most of my life I have been fairly unhealthy.  While I've almost always played a sport of one sort or another, my diet has been pretty average, and at times downright terrible, and any time not spent playing a sport was spent on the couch in front of the TV or playing computer games.  At different stages of my life I have been more active, and my diet has been healthier, but as a general rule I couldn't claim to have been fit or healthy.  Just under 2 years ago I weighed 84kg, or 185 pounds, (I'm 5ft9in or 175cm tall), had a 34 inch waist and was living on a diet of chocolate, pasta and easy heat meals.  Any meals I did cook were generally steaks that were way over portioned.  I was playing basketball in a couple of social rosters, but doing very little other physical activity.  My stomach had gotten to the point that I was getting sores on my skin from where it was rubbing on my belt.  It was not good at all.  In about September 2011 a friend and I decided to join a gym to try and get more fit.  I went in and signed up and was going regularly but did little to change my diet.  After about 6 months of going to the gym and starting to see some change I decided it was time to take things a bit more seriously.  I decided there was little point in going to the gym if I was going to be drinking coke every day and eating MacDonald's on a regular basis.  At around the same time there was a phrase from the Bible that I could not get out of my head.  A phrase which seemed to be demanding my attention, which would become my life motto.  That phrase was "Run the Race".  There are a couple of places in the Bible that this phrase or similar ones occur, but the one which spoke to me was in Hebrews chapter 12 verses 1 - 3 which says:

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (NIV)

So what does it all mean and what relevance does it have to fitness?  Over the next couple of blog posts I'm going to work my way through the passage to talk about what it means to me and hopefully along the way provide you, even if you're not a Christian, with some inspiration and encouragement to run the race as well.

The first part of verse one refers to a "great cloud of witnesses".  This refers back to the previous chapter where the writer discusses a number of examples of people in the Old Testament who had shown great faith and ran the race that God had for them.  He uses examples such as Moses, Noah and Abraham who had faced significant challenges to walk the path that God had determined for them, and yet had persisted knowing that God was with them and would get them through.  They serve as models for us to look to and follow.  In life we should also find examples to follow, people to look up to.  These people serve as examples of having faced some of the difficulties we may face and having gotten through them.  They show us that determination and discipline can pay off.  We should also have positive people in our lives who can mentor us and guide us, who have experience in walking the paths we are hoping to follow.  These people can encourage us when times get tough, and guide us when the path isn't clear.

The next part of the passage encourages us to "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles".  This means that we need to ensure that we keep our lives free from things that can distract us from our goals, or things that can hold us back.  In the physical sense, this means we need to stay away from the things which prevent us from reaching our goals.  You can't continue to eat junk food and expect to be healthy.  You can't sit on the couch all day and expect to get fit.  We need to avoid junk food, we need to break bad eating habits, we need to stop making excuses to avoid exercise and finding ways to cheat.  You won't see progress or results if you don't make the effort to make the change.  In a spiritual sense the meaning is much the same, we need to monitor what we take into our minds and spirits, and stop making excuses to avoid doing the right thing just because it might be a bit harder at times.  There's no point saying that you want to stop thinking lustful thoughts if you sit down and watch porn on a regular basis.  There's no point saying you want a closer relationship with God if you're not willing to put the time in to pray and meditate on his Word.  Laziness, whether physical, mental or spiritual is just one example of something that can hinder and "easily entangle" us. 

So how can we apply this?  The first step is to set your goals, to know what you want to achieve.  Then find people who inspire you, people who have led the way in areas that you want to pursue.  Find examples of leaders and others who have worked through adversity and succeeded.  Also find people who can mentor you, positive people who can encourage and support you on your journey.  Find wise, mature and stable people who will stick by you and help you on your way.  Then work out what the things are that are slowing you down.  What are the things that are "entangling" you that you need to break free of?  Is it bad habits, bad choices, bad influences?  Take responsibility for these things and make the changes.  Break free of those things and run the race!