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The Bible is full of images that help us to understand the Christian life: we are part of the army of God, engaged in battle; we are part of the body of Christ; we are Christ's ambassadors, his envoys, representing him in this world; we are a building, being built up into Christlikeness; we are branches, Christ is the vine; we are the bride of Christ; we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. All of these analogies are rich and useful.

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My favorite analogy, however, compares the Christian life to running a race. Paul loved it, too. He used the running and racing image at least nine times in his epistles. In addition, the author of Hebrews used the analogy, too. As you can imagine, this analogy is particularly rich for me because I am a runner, and not a single race goes by that I don’t draw the parallel between the race that I’m running in that day with all of it’s challenges and the race that I run every single day, the only race that matters, my walk with Christ. That’s when 1 Timothy 6:12, comes to mind: “Run your best in the race of faith, and win eternal life for yourself.” This morning I would like to elaborate on this running image, supplementing scriptures with analogies that I have drawn while training for marathons and running in races. I apologize up front for the personal nature of this lesson, but I believe, that the image of running is not only a personal favorite but also is full of vivid parallels with our Christian walk.

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So let’s take a closer look at 2 Timothy chapter 2. Paul has been exhorting Timothy to fan his gift into flame and to suffer hardship. He mentions those who have fallen away, who were unwilling to suffer hardship for the gospel. He also mentions his own endurance through suffering. Let us begin reading in verse one of chapter two: [Read 2 Timothy 2:1-12] So how is competitive training and racing comparable to living the Christian life? What insights can we gain into living the Christian life from running? Today, I will draw seven parallels from my own personal experiences. Four will be related to training, and the last three from racing. Since we must always train before we race if we hope to have any success, let's start with training:

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Our training must be consistent if we are to reach our full potential. One coach put it this way: A runner may say, "Surely to miss training just this once will not matter? After all, there is a long season of it lying ahead." But to miss training once is to open a breach in the wall of routine, and a single breach will almost certainly be followed by others, to the point where there is no routine left. And then, bang! -- there goes your ambition to be a runner.” Now, I can atest that this statement is actually true. To miss one day is no big thing, but missing days develops a bad habit. One day becomes two, then three, then before I know it a whole week has gone by. Sometimes even longer than that goes by, depending on the other things going on in my life. For a casual runner like me, I can get by, but I will be in a lot of pain on the next race from letting myself get out of shape. One of the giants of American track and field, Ken Doherty, put it this way: "Run until the question of not running just never arises.“ Now some runners are just running because it is fun and convenient, and that’s fine, as long as they don’t expect to achieve excellence in their running. But to become all that they are capable of being, they must be consistent. So that’s the question. Is your walk with Christ comfortable and convenient, or are you out to achieve excellence? Paul brings out this idea of consistency in 2 Timothy 2:5, where he says no one wins the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. This was relevant in his time, because the ancient Olympic games used to govern not only the competition, but also the preparation. Athletes had to train rigorously for ten months, or they were not allowed even to compete for the prize. The point is this, in training, consistency is everything. Without consistency, you will never reach your fulll

Sometimes the Christian life is presented to us as a one-time conversion, followed by a joyful life of walking with Christ ever after. Well, that's not my experience and that was not Timothy's experience either. Paul's exhortations to Timothy emphasize persistence again and again. Paul tells him to "keep on fanning into flame" the gift that is within him, "keep on being strong in the Lord." Later in this letter he tells him to "continue in the things you know and have become convinced of." Timothy was tempted with inconsistency. He was tempted to give up. He was tempted to abandon the hard work of living the Christian life. So am I. So are you. We don't live happily ever after once we receive Christ. Instead, day after day, hour after hour we are presented with the option of whether we are going to follow Christ or follow the world. Are we going to believe Satan's lie when he says, "Just this once! You can be a Christian tomorrow; one day makes no difference!" Or are we going to be consistent in our training, consistent in our devotional life, consistent in our resisting temptation, consistent in our pursuit of righteousness, faith, love, and peace? Take the Ken Doherty quote and apply it to your Christian life: Read the Bible until the question of not reading just never arises; pray until the question of not praying just never arises; resist temptation until the question of not resisting temptation just never arises. You see, much as we hate to admit it, we are creatures of habit. What we do today influences what we do tomorrow. When we are inconsistent today, we make it that much more likely that we will be inconsistent tomorrow, but when we pursue righteousness today, we make it that much more likely that we will pursue righteousness tomorrow. So remember: No athlete receives the victor's crown unless his training is consistent. Be consistent!

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For training to reap its maximum benefit, an athlete must discipline his entire life, not just his time on the track. In addition to being consistent, a well-trained athlete must avoid distractions, eat well, get sufficient rest, and avoid engaging in activities that could result in injury. An athlete may follow a perfect training program to the letter, but if he is not eating well or getting enough rest, he will never fulfill his potential. Now, I have to confess, this is an area where I struggle, both in running and in life. I run for fun, so I’m not necessarily motivated to train hard and improve my time. As a result, I’m often what most people call a “back of the packer”. That’s okay for running, but I certainly do not want to be last in line when it comes to running towards eternity. As Christians, we must discipline ourselves in all parts of our lives. Paul tells Timothy to flee the evil desires of youth & pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Likewise, we have to flee these negative areas if we are to pursue what is righteous and good and holy. Paul says that the good soldier does not entangle himself in civilian affairs; his focus instead is on pleasing his commanding officer.

Runners are faced with many distractions, many enjoyable or pressing activities that can divert them from the pursuit of excellence. Similarly, we as Christians face many possible diversions. The author of Hebrews uses a running analogy to make this point to us Christians when he writes, "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." If we're running, we don't want extra weight on our backs, we don't want our feet entangled with diversions. We need to avoid all that, and focus on our goal. We as Christians must do the same.

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A good coach tries to make workouts enjoyable, but workouts can never be all fun and games. In order to achieve one's potential, hard work is necessary, and that, at times, is painful. One necessary part of any distance runner's training is interval work. This is when athletes sprint for a particular distance (say one lap or a 1/4 of a mile), then rest for about 90 seconds, and then run again. They do this over and over throughout the duration of the workout, but about halfway through a workout like this, lactic acid begins to build up in the muscles, and legs begin to get stiff. Maintaining pace becomes difficult, and at times, painful. Of course, this is the whole point of the workout. Intervals are designed to teach the body how to run well in race conditions, when muscles begin to get stiff and tired. Completing the workout is key to reaping its benefits.

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At the end of a long workout one day, I had a coach tell me "Running when you're tired makes you stronger!" My smart-alleck response was, “No, running when I’m tired just makes me more tired.” The sad thing is, I often tend to take that attitude with God, too. Have you ever felt that way as a Christian? Have you complained to God, "Oh, Lord, I'm tired, I can't finish this! Give me a break, let me rest! This is too much for me! it's all so pointless. I believe in you -- isn't that enough?“ Yeah, me too. God uses trials and difficulties in our lives to tax our spiritual muscles, stimulating growth, and stimulating dependence on him. As James tells us, persevering through trials makes us perfect and complete, lacking nothing. You see, God is not training us to be joggers. He is training us to be champions, to be like Jesus! This type of training is tough, and yeah, it is bound to be painful at times, but when we are weak, we are really strong! Paul asks Timothy to endure hardship with him. He reminds him that he is like a soldier, who shouldn't worry about his personal comfort but should be set on pleasing his commanding officer. He also says that we are to be like hardworking farmers, who must suffer through back-breaking work, day in and day out, if they are to reap a harvest. In chapter 3, Paul also tells Timothy to expect persecution. He makes no promises that the Christian life will be easy. Matter of fact, he explicitly promises that the Christian life will be tough. instead of the absence of difficulties, the promise God makes to us is that through all of our difficulties, God himself will provide the energy to overcome, and we will grow more Christlike in the process. And that's the goal: Becoming more like Christ! So endure hardship! Be willing to put up with pain, knowing what it produces!

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The fourth lesson from training is that we must enjoy it. Now, I know that seems contradictory. After all, we've just mentioned the need for consistency, discipline, and hard work with an element of pain. So how can we possibly enjoy it? We must do so because we are commanded to. James 1:2 says to consider our trials pure joy. Why? Because we MUST persevere! An athlete may say, "OK, I'm committed, I'm going to be disciplined, I'll be consistent, I'll work hard. I’ll work through the pain." That’s all well and good, but if that athlete is only goal-oriented, he may achieve some objectives but will not persevere year after year after year. One example of this is an Olympic Champion by the name of Herb Elliott. He was the Olympic champion of the metric mile in 1960. in his entire career he never lost a mile or 1500 meter race. Matter of fact, he held the world records for both events. He probably trained harder than any runner up to that time. But Elliott retired when he was only 22. He achieved his goals, and then quit. Now, we can't fault him for retiring. But as Christians we are training not only to achieve a goal, but to become like Christ in the process of living in this world. We are training not only for heaven, but for the rest of our life on earth.

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We must learn to be thankful for our trials, to rest in God in the midst of those trials, and, yes, to enjoy the process, to "consider it pure joy" when we're faced with trials. If our being a Christian is solely a means to get to heaven and avoid hell, then we've missed something vitally important. Eternal life begins now! We are in Christ Jesus now! We have his peace, his love, and his presence in the midst of whatever pain and suffering we may encounter in this life. We need to rejoice in the Lord always and not just when things are going well. We need to focus on His presence, His joy, and His overcoming of the world, especially when the world seems to be bearing down on us.

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One of my favorite biblical examples of this is when Paul and Silas are in the jail in Philippi. Their legs are in stocks, they can't move, their cell stinks, they can't sleep, and they've been beaten illegally. Yet, how do they react? Do they say, "Oh, Lord, how could you allow this to happen to us? We've worked so hard for you, and this is what results! God, this hurts so much! How could you be so unfair?" No. Shamefully, that would’ve been me, but Paul and Silas choose to rejoice. They sing. They praise God. So how would you react? When you face trials, do you rejoice, or do you simply bear up under the pain, being stoic? If we are just bearing the pain and gritting our teeth, then we are not really living the Christian life. We are to enjoy Christ's presence, whether we are in jail or in church, when the path is rough and when it is smooth. So rejoice in your tribulation! Rejoice that you belong to Christ, and enjoy your training!

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So examine yourself. How have you been running? How has your training been going? Are you consistent, day after day, hour after hour? Are you disciplining all parts of your life, so that you will grow in Christlikeness? Are you working hard, willing to endure suffering? Discuss with your table some of your individual struggles in your race and why you think you struggle with these things.

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Now, let's turn our thoughts to racing. An athlete who has trained consistently, who has disciplined all areas of his life so that the training has maximum impact, who has trained through the pain, and has enjoyed the process, is now prepared to race. But the race will not be successful unless he remembers certain key lessons: The first is to stay focused and alert. This is my fifth parallel out of the seven. Roger Bannister is a runner who is best known as the first man to break four minutes in the mile. Regardless, his finest hour actually came four months later, at the 1954 Commonwealth Games. In the interim, an Australian named John Landy had broken Bannister's world record, and the Commonwealth Games was the first meeting between the two runners who had both broken four minutes in the mile. Bannister was known for his fast kick, so Landy took the pace out hard at the beginning, passing halfway with a ten yard lead. Seeing the gap, many observers thought that Bannister was finished. Once one loses contact with the runner ahead in a track race, it is very difficult to close the gap. But listen to Bannister recall his thoughts at the time: He said “I quickened my stride, trying at the same time to stay relaxed. I won back the first yard, then each succeeding yard, until his lead was halved by the time we reached the back straight on the third lap. I had now connected myself to Landy again, though he was still 5 yards ahead. I tried to imagine myself attached to him by some invisible cord. With each stride I drew the cord tighter, and reduced his lead. I fixed myself to Landy like a shadow.” The result: Bannister ran by Landy in the final stretch, setting a new world record and winning Commonwealth gold. (Watch Bannister Landy Miracle Mile 1954 video)

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Let’s go back to Bannister’s comments in his description of the race. He imagined a cord connecting him to Landy. He focused on the runner ahead, and he drew himself closer. As Christians, we too need to keep our focus. Hebrews 12:1 says “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus.” Our eyes are to remain fixed on Jesus, looking straight ahead at Him; not looking at the world around us, not looking at the problems that face us, not looking at our own past failures or accomplishments, but focusing only on our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Like Bannister peering at Landy, we must look straight ahead, not thinking of our pain, not thinking of our own effort, but looking at Him, depending on Him, and becoming like Him. Focusing on Jesus can easily be the topic of this entire lesson, but let me just mention three aspects of this focus, and leave the details for another time. First, we focus on Christ in order to tap into His power within us. Second, we focus on Jesus as our pioneer, as our trailblazer, as the one who has gone before us maintaining His focus on the joy set before him, and succeeding. Third, we focus on the triumphant Christ who will return to earth and make all things new, who will right every wrong and wipe every tear from our eyes.

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Jesus tells us this in Mark 13:33: Be on your guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come! Likewise, 1 Peter 5:8 says “Be alert and of sober mind”. We must fix our eyes on Jesus, and maintain our focus, despite all the distractions around us.

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In addition to keeping focus, a good racer must maintain his form throughout the race. As our bodies tire, the natural tendency is to tense up. Our shoulders rise, our jaws tighten, and when we become worried, we get even tighter. Although this is all natural, it is quite counterproductive. The tighter we become, the slower we go. This is one of the hardest things for a runner to learn. Much of training for running (especially at the elite levels) is designed to teach the runner to always maintain good form, even when he is about to collapse. If he doesn’t, a runner will tend to lean his head backwards, making his strides shorter and shorter, inevitably making him slow more and more. What is the parallel for Christians? Paul brings this up in chapter four of 2 Timothy, when he looks back at his own life and says, "I have fought the good fight." The word "good" is not the word that means "morally upright" but instead a word that means "aesthetically pleasing." He fought a beautiful fight, he maintained his form, he looked good all the way through the end, even when the pressure was on. He and Silas praised God in the Philippian jail. He continued to be faithful to his calling even after being beaten and shipwrecked. He proclaimed the gospel boldly, even when he knew that would result in persecution. He was afflicted, persecuted, perplexed, and struck down, but he never showed signs of despair. He never acted ashamed of the gospel. He never lashed back at his persecutors. He was never quarrelsome. He was aesthetically pleasing to God. He kept his good form, focusing on the Lord Jesus Christ, rejoicing in him, despite all the challenges the world could throw at him. Such is our goal. Focus on your form! Run the good race!

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Now, don’t misunderstand this last step. This doesn’t mean you should stop at mile 25 and lay down on the marathon course. No, it means, stop trying to overcome your hurdles in your own strength.

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Here we have another apparent contradiction. When racing, we are trying to get every last tenth of a second out of our body, trying to use our last ounce of energy so that we can run our best. Yet all great coaches emphasize that one key to achieving greatness is learning how to relax while racing. Many of you have watched Olympic marathons or the Boston marathon on television. Don't those runners make it look easy? Their shoulders are relaxed, their cheeks bounce up and down -- they look almost like they're out for a pleasant jog around the block. But they are running fast! The average pace for an Olympic gold medalist in the marathon is about 73 seconds for each 440 yards. Go out to the track sometime and try running one lap. I would guess that no more than 15 people here this morning can even run one lap that fast, The best marathoners run 105 laps that fast, without stopping, and they do it looking completely relaxed! Why is this? It is actually quite logical. If I am going to use every ounce of energy to achieve my goal, I must not waste any of that limited supply of energy on something irrelevant. I don't run with my jaw, or my fists, or my shoulders. So those must all relax, they all must use no energy, so that all of my energy can be focused on those parts of my body that must work hard if I am to run fast. To achieve the supreme physical effort, we must relax every part of our body not necessary to that effort.

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We as Christians are called to something similar. The author of the book of Hebrews tells us to "make every effort to enter God's rest," that is, "work hard at resting." Paul says at the end of the first chapter of Colossians: “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. I am laboring, I am striving, I am working hard -- but it is with God's energy, not my own.” We've also seen 2 Timothy Paul give Timothy several commands. What you might not have noticed is that with each command, he notes that God has enabled Timothy to keep the command. For example, "Fan into flame the gift of God . . . for God has given us a spirit of power." "Join with me in suffering . . . by the power of God." "Guard the good deposit . . . with the help of the Holy Spirit." Indeed, one translation of 2 Timothy 2:1 brings out this thought quite clearly when it says "Keep in touch with the power that is yours in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." We are not called upon to be strong on our own, or to accomplish things for God through our own power. On the contrary, Jesus tells us "apart from me, you can do nothing." Instead, we are to rest in Him, to relax in Him, and to allow Him to work through us. Our job is to focus on Him, to turn our thoughts to Him, to pray to Him, to depend on His word, and to put on His armor. Then, and only then, can we succeed in the race of faith.

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So let’s go back to examining ourselves. How is your focus? Are you ready and alert, keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus, expectantly awaiting his return? Are you maintaining your form, fighting the good fight, or are you complaining and feeling sorry for yourself? And are you relaxing in Christ, letting his energy do the work? This is the race of faith -- the most important race of your life, the race whose goal is eternal life with Christ, made perfect in him. Run your best in this race.