Choices are for the Living
Do you ever feel like there is something more you should be doing with your life? What is holding you back? The opposite of faith is fear. Are you afraid to step out and do something radical for God? I have done many things that have not turned out for God, but I will never stop trying to reach the lost, minister to the sick, comfort the hurting, feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, and clothe the naked.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says, “For the love of God controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised".
My question to you is, “Who controls you?” With the world we live in today I could easily ask, “What controls you?” Whatever controls you is what you are living for.
I recently read an article written by Joshua Davis called, “The Perfect Human”, the article was about a man named Karnazes, who is an extraordinary marathon runner. Karnazes did not train all of his life to become a marathon runner, nor was this a dream of his. He stumbled across this talent by accident literally stumbled out of a bar into a pair of sneakers. Let me elaborate on what I gleamed from the article. Karnazes was a drunk. It was his 30th birthday and he was at a local bar near his home in San Francisco. Karnazes was sitting at the bar drinking beer and tequila shots. He was a corporate business man, living the corporate life. As he was sitting there on the bar stool, a women came onto him. Karnazes decided to head out the back door rather than put himself in a position he would regret later. Karnazes walked home which was only a couple of blocks from the bar. As he was sitting on his back porch, he looked over and saw an old pair of sneakers. He stripped down to his t-shirt and underwear, laced up his shoes and began running. Karnazes ended up in Dala City, which was about fifteen miles from where he had begun. It was about four in the morning and Karnazes felt ridiculous, but this experience brought a huge smile to his face. So he kept running. When the sun started peeking out, he realized he was near Santa Cruz. He had covered thirty miles. Karnazes had a rebirth moment in his life; he had metamorphosed into a long distant runner. He stopped and called his wife. He then passed out in the car on the way home.
photo credit - pichaus.com
I recently read an article written by Joshua Davis called, “The Perfect Human”, the article was about a man named Karnazes, who is an extraordinary marathon runner. Karnazes did not train all of his life to become a marathon runner, nor was this a dream of his. He stumbled across this talent by accident literally stumbled out of a bar into a pair of sneakers. Let me elaborate on what I gleamed from the article. Karnazes was a drunk. It was his 30th birthday and he was at a local bar near his home in San Francisco. Karnazes was sitting at the bar drinking beer and tequila shots. He was a corporate business man, living the corporate life. As he was sitting there on the bar stool, a women came onto him. Karnazes decided to head out the back door rather than put himself in a position he would regret later. Karnazes walked home which was only a couple of blocks from the bar. As he was sitting on his back porch, he looked over and saw an old pair of sneakers. He stripped down to his t-shirt and underwear, laced up his shoes and began running. Karnazes ended up in Dala City, which was about fifteen miles from where he had begun. It was about four in the morning and Karnazes felt ridiculous, but this experience brought a huge smile to his face. So he kept running. When the sun started peeking out, he realized he was near Santa Cruz. He had covered thirty miles. Karnazes had a rebirth moment in his life; he had metamorphosed into a long distant runner. He stopped and called his wife. He then passed out in the car on the way home.
This occurred on August 1992. For the next 14 years, Karnazes challenged almost every known running endurance limit. He covered 350 miles without sleeping. He ran the first and only marathon to the North Pole (which he finishing second) at the age of 44. He completed 50 marathons in 50 consecutive days, one in each of the 50 states, (The last one was held in New York City, after that, he ran home to San Francisco).
photo credit faithvillage.com
The moral of this story is that some of us need to just put on our running shoes and run the race for Jesus and not for ourselves. I don’t know how many times over the last several years I have heard the statement, “It’s not about me”. However, if we would be brutally honest with ourselves it really has been. What would you do if it wasn’t about you? Would you give more? I imagine you would if it didn’t affect your standard of living. Would you pray for the person in the grocery store? You would if you could get past being embarrassed. Would you feed the hungry on the side of the road? You would if it was convenient, or if you thought they really deserved it. Would you go to the ends of the world to spread the gospel if God told you to? You might, but you might not. Why? Because reality is, it has always been all about you, me, and our level of comfort. I am not willing to live like that any longer. I have made a decision to walk my walk with Jesus in a walk worth walking, in the most radical, nontraditional way. Have you? We need to start being controlled by love, not our emotions, our past experiences, on how others treat us, our bank accounts or certainly not how we feel from day to day. 2 Corinthians 5:15 says, “And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised”.
Karnazes looked at his life and thought, “I just need to do something different”. Some of the readers today just need to do something different. Put on your running shoes and run for Jesus! Choices are for the living. What shoes are you wearing?
Walking a life worth repeating…..Michele Davenport
For prayer, questions, or comments please e-mail me at fbministries@comcast.net
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