Running, Walking and In Between

After waking up, breakfast, quiet time and general puttering around in the kitchen, I was finally ready to go for a run. I had gotten some brand new running shoes the day before, and I was dying to try them out. My old sneakers were retired from running, as they had seen better days.

Now, I'm not a 'runner' if you think of a runner as someone who does marathons as a hobby, but if you think of a runner as a person who attempts to move both feet in a forward motion while clomping them up and down, then I'm a runner through and through. I'm persuaded that to runners, I looked funny, to non-runners I looked funny and to those in-betweeners at my level I certainly didn't look inspirational. In fact, I felt rather like a shire horse trying to do dressage. :-) Thankfully I had no observers save the few drivers that drove by me on my otherwise private route.

The sun was warm, the breeze was welcome and the surface of the road was just the right texture; firm enough to not be muddy, and soft enough for a bit of cushioning. A rapidly disappearing layer of snow still lay under the trees on either side of the road. I felt like my feet were pounding, thumping and thudding the ground; all of the things that they shouldn't have been doing! Oh well. I was enjoying the fact that I was able to be where I was with the strength and health that God gave me, along with all the added blessings of a sunny, warm day and a safe road to run on.

I had brought my mp3 player with me with a playlist of inspirational instrumental/vocal songs to keep me going. I decided that on the way down I would not use it, but that I would rather enjoy nature.
On the way back, however, I turned it on and began my run back. I decided that some of the most inspirational music to run to is the soundtrack from 'The Man from Snowy River'. I'm not a fan of the movie, but the soundtracks are great. Andrew Peterson's 'Pillar of Fire' is one that it's hard not to run to! Especially since I was "homeward bound". I began walking once I had reached my goal of running over 3 miles. Andrew Peterson's "Just as I Am" began playing as I neared the entrance of my road. I'm so glad that "He loves me, He does." Just as I got back to our house, "Rocky Top" started to play. I had to smile. There "ain't no smoggy smoke" near my house, and it just may always be "home sweet home to me".

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I feel so privileged and blessed! Just last night I was reading Ephesians 5:1-21. I've been learning lately just how important it is to heed the exhortation given in verses 15 and 16:

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

In Ephesians chapter 5 we have three different verses that talk about walking.

• Verse 2 says to "walk in love".
• Verse 8 says to "walk as children of light".
• Verse 15 says "be careful how you walk".

Then  in Hebrews 12:1-2 the author compares living out the new life Christ gives (2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 6:4) to running a race.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Here it says "let us run with endurance the race that is set before us". The race that it talks about in that verse is our lives. At the finish line is a reward in heaven from God (2 Timothy 4:7-8). Are you 'entered' into the race? Jesus said "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved...". John 10:9. The only way to be right with God is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior from your sins: That we stood guilty before God, that Jesus died to take the punishment we deserved for our sins, and that He lives again.

I know I don't fully comprehend or follow the commands of all of these verses. It is my prayer that I will learn to walk more and more the way God wants me to every day. But I do know this: Whether I'm walking or running, I have a reminder from the Bible to

• Walk in love
• Walk as a child of light
• Be careful how I walk
• Run with endurance

I'm thankful to the Lord who gives me the ability to enjoy His creation by walking and running in it, but I'm even more grateful for the fact that I'm His child. It is my strong desire that I would

...Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:10

(photo credits: Microsoft images)