The Upward Call

A couple months before I left home for Australia, I purchased a new pair of running shoes.  I started running for exercise since preaching for me does not provide much aerobic benefit!  It has been good to begin a routine of  regular exercise, not because I like exercise in itself, but because of the obvious health benefits.  I have found running benefits my mental focus, digestion, endurance, lowered my cholesterol, and added 15 yards to my golf game!

I have to admit, I'm not a health freak.  I admit I'm not even that "health conscious."  I am not seeking rock-hard abs or interested in how much I can bench press.  But one day I looked at myself in the mirror and exclaimed, "Self, you're getting sloppy!"  My pants were starting to fit a little tight and I'm too tight to buy new pants!  Some people are not content to see an ounce of fat on their bodies.  They starve themselves, eat the equivalent of cardboard and sticks, and still work out for hours a day!  They cut out all soda and red meats, buy raw foods and follow a carefully monitored diet.  That's not for me, but I'm glad there are health-conscious people out there.  If only we were as spiritually conscious as some are health conscious!  We must guard our eyes, ears, hearts, and thoughts with the vigilance of a person who avoids saturated fats, sugar substitutes, or high fructose corn syrup.

Nearly every day since my arrival, I have headed out for a morning or evening run.  The main difference between this neighborhood and mine is that it is hard to find anywhere flat to run!  The home where I am staying is situated in such a way that I always have to run uphill to go home.  I like to mix in some hills from time to time, but here I have had a steady diet of them here.  As I was laboring towards the finish yesterday, I thought about the verse in  Philippians 3:14:  "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."  Our call is an upward call.  It is an upward battle.  We will never on this earth be able to spiritually say that we're "over the hill" because our goal is in the heavens.  It is a race that will tax us, make us want to quit, leave us dizzy, wheezing, and even puking.  But home for us always is uphill.  It's not a home that we've paid for or picked out for ourselves, but one in heaven that God has prepared for us.  It is not our sweat or tears that earn us a heavenly home, but only the blood of the Lamb of God applied to our hearts in faith.

Paul pressed forward with the urgency of a world-class marathon runner.  We have to lose the idea that speed is important in a spiritual race.  Time presses on whether you jog or sit on the couch.  Your spiritual race is being run whether you are active or negligent in spiritual pursuits.  Men have died working out in the gym and others while eating a burger and drinking a milkshake.  We Christians are followers of Jesus Christ, so close that we can draft like a NASCAR driver.  This upward call is offered to all who will follow.  The word "call" here is "an invitation."  Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."  We find rest in Christ, but there is labor to be done with Him as we remain on earth.  There is a difference between "rest" and "ease."  Ease is akin to sloth, and we ought not to ease up to the finish line spiritually.  God supplies the strength and power, and we are to take Christ's yoke upon us as willing slaves.

Don't allow the hills and valleys to bring discouragement as you press on to the upward call of Jesus Christ.  Every time that I have gone out for a run, by God's grace I've always made it home.  Jesus knows every one of His sheep and will bring every last one home to heaven.  Jesus says in John 10:27-28:  "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. [28] And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand."  Run your race with joyful endurance in the strength God provides.  He will grant spiritual benefits that will enable you to serve God better.  Run Christian, run!