80+ degrees today and bright sun...I'm in my glory...only to be eclipsed by 100 degrees and on an island, but we must be happy where we are. Day 2 of back to running. Already you can tell that it's warm, and for some working out in the heat is even harder. I happen to be one of those crazy...or stupid people...your call, but probably very close...that actually loves working out in the heat.
My quiet time with the Lord today had me in Hebrews 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that He exists..." That certainly does sound reasonable...pleasing God...and believing that He exists. What got me thinking was, as I ran huffing and puffing down the road running in the beautiful 80 degrees...my legs feeling like logs...my lungs feeling stretched...and my body feeling tired...could I realistically say..."yeah, I'm fit...or yeah, I work out..yeah, I'm healthy"...if I've ran 4 times since January? Well...no really. But don't we do that with a lot of things? What we do occasionally, do we sometimes pass off as a lifestyle that we own? I'm especially guilty of this when it comes to questions about my surfing...but more about that later. But wouldn't that be dangerous for your surgeon if asked has he done this before? And do we do that with our faith in Christ? We say "yeah....I'm a Christian" but actually do not practice regularly any of the basics of the faith. John 1:12 says "to all who received him, to those who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God". The "believed" word is actually a form of "pisteuo" which con-notates a active on going perseverance of faith and a putting into practice on a continual on basis. John 5:24 "whoever hears my word and believes (pisteuo) him who sent me has eternal life". Meaning...my ongoing, regular, faithful, continual reflecting of what I believe and even exercising and running puts me in the category of being fit...not that I ran one time awhile ago and each day since then ate brownies...so now I'm a athlete.
The thought seems silly really. Until I ask myself...what are my actions, lifestyle today reflecting? Athlete or lazy...believer or... once had a belief that God was real and now I think I'm part of the christian club?
I guess...I'd better keep running each day.
