Following Jesus is like going for a run to the creek in the cold.
I have recently rediscovered that I like to run-- I forgot I liked it because I hadn't ran in a while. I could tell you it's because my foot was fractured in a boot for two months but really it had been much longer than the duration of my foot being broken. Ok, that's besides the point. I don't really know much about running besides the fact that I enjoy it, but sometimes things get in the way of my delight in running. I want to make some analogies with running and following Jesus. My thoughts are pretty scattered but I'm just praying God will help them make a little sense.
So I went on a run today to go hang out at this creek I had seen from afar but never really up close and I had never explored it. Simply put, following Jesus is a lot like going for a run to the creek in the cold.
I've found that running can be pretty miserable if I focus on my achey ankle, tired legs, sweating face, cramping abdomen, and cold wind hitting my face. The more I think about these things, the worse they seem to get and I forget why I'm even running and start to think "I don't like running! Who in their right mind finds satisfaction in this?" But then I remember the Creek. I think of how I will see the sun glimmer on running water across the rocks through a tunnel of greenery. I remember where I'm headed and suddenly my mind refocuses and I can enjoy where I am at present more. The ache, tiredness, sweat, cramps and cold winds are still there, but my attention to them fades in comparison to the Creek. The same is true when we lift our attention from our pain, failures, suffering, and maybe just boredom in our lives. When we remind ourselves of where we are going and Who is running alongside us, pain is comforted, failure disappears under the shadow of the Cross, and suffering cannot compare to the glory Jesus brings. The pain is a little less painful when I remember Heaven and God's promises. It doesn't make pain vanish, but it starts to count for something. When I see things as they really are, temporary, my burden feels a little lighter. Matthew 11:28-30 talks about Jesus giving rest to our souls.
Friends, I have so much to say on this and my heart burns with passion to share it. The very fact that I have a healthy enough body to go for a run is such a representation of following Jesus, still. God is gracious enough to give me a healthy body, just like God is gracious enough to give us His own Son. These are gifts. We can receive them and exercise them. It can be really easy to give up but the satisfaction in pressing forward is far greater. The glory in pressing forward in running this life with Jesus is far more satisfying than settling for a walk without Him. Now I am not by any means trying to convince a single person to literally start running. I could not care less if you run or not. But I deeply desire to impart what God has called us to: to put to use the individual gifts, talents, and abilities God has given you in this life to further the Kingdom in the next one. Let's exercise the gifts God has given us just like we would our earthly bodies, pushing ourselves, keeping the Goal in mind, refocusing our attention to the Purpose. Run to the Creek. "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:12. AH! On this earth, in this life, during the run with Jesus, we see dimly. In a silly way, this scripture makes me think about running again-- I don't really know anything about running, I just kind of start moving my legs in somewhat of a rhythm and suppose I will figure things out as I go and I figure if I run maybe I can eat a little healthier too because that seems to be good for me. The same is true for life with Jesus. It's as simple as you let it be. Just start somewhere and figure it out with the Holy Spirit as you go. Just make your move and trust God to direct you. God never said we had to be experts at following Him, He just promised it would be worth it and that He will pick us up if we fall on our face. God says in Isaiah 46:4 "I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save." This life is temporary. Soon, our dim vision will be restored to completely new Perfection. In John 2, we read that Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding because the good wine the bridegroom provided ran out fast and a guy went up to the bridegroom so shocked by how amazing the wine Jesus made (he didn't know it was Jesus's) because the guy thought the wine he tasted before was the best there was. To me this sounds like how it might feel when I get to Heaven. Every experience that I consider the most beautiful and fulfilling moments of my life, are like the wine that ran out that seemed to be the best. I've heard Heaven will feel familiar but every desire satisfied righteously and Revelations 21 tells us there will be no more mourning or crying or pain because God is making all things new. Jesus in this story made a new wine that was tastier than the "best wine" prior to it. I can't wait to get to Heaven and experience this with everything. Everything will be made new and restored and we will be WITH God. Sin will no longer reign within us, only Jesus. The temporary aches, tiredness, cramps, sweat, and cold winds from before will have faded and we will no longer know them. For now, I will give Him all I have. If that merely means water, I will let Him turn it into wine. Jesus just wants me and I will give Him my life because I have found it the only thing worth running to (John 10:10).
I have one more point I want to make. The longer I run, the more my body adapts to the cold and generates more body heat. The longer I run for, after, with, and to Jesus-- the more I get the hang of following Jesus. I start to get used to what seemed so unnatural and uncomfortable at first. I'm not the best at "staying hydrated" but I've learned that if I'm gonna run, I need to drink water and eat a little protein and carbs or I will probably pass out and quickly start to grow bitter toward running. Similarly, with following Jesus, I've learned that I desperately need to read the Word of God and I desperately need to talk to God in prayer or I will probably pass out and get burnt out fast. Without the Word of God, I forget who I am, what I am doing, Where and What I'm "running" for. Without prayer, I begin to feel a distance and a little bit of numbness in my soul and that is simply because we were created for intimacy with God! He is delighted in me and I can delight in Him!