Following Jesus is a Marathon not a Pill

Following Jesus is a Marathon not a Pill
“The Christian life is not a sprint ... it is a marathon. Training for one is far different from the rigors of preparing for the other. The distance runner learns to run despite the pain and stress, focusing on completing 27 arduous miles.” From the Presidential Prayer Team’s “Pray the Vote” daily devotional email.

It is interesting to see how many people today want to solve their life-long acquired problems with a “pill” (sprint) instead of doing what is really needed (marathon) to change their lives forever. We go to the doctor and ask Him to give us a pill to make the pain go away, remove the fat, correct this malady or solve that health problem. At the same time, doctors are so used to this mentality and are pressured to see more patients that, instead of telling you how to fix your problem without expensive (pharmaceutical company supporting) pills, he just gives you another prescription and hopes the side effects don’t cause you too many other problems.

Pharmaceutical companies thrive on promising to solve your problem with a pill and care little about the need for life-habit changes. They get your money and the side-effects are your problem, not theirs. Some have even put out dangerous pills (sprints) and hoped they could make a lot of money before the dangers were discovered, law suits filed and profits siphoned.
How many of you want to lose 5, 10, 50 or more pounds? How many of you have tried this diet and that diet and lost the amount desired, but gained it back and then some, as soon as you went off the diet? Like so many of our other problems, we want a quick fix, but we don’t want to do what is necessary to make that “fix” permanent. We don’t want to invest in a permanent change that will keep the weight off and keep us healthier.

It is not my intention to offend many of you by what follows. I’m trying to point you to a life-saving solution that is far better than the spiritual “sprints” you have been running up to now. I want to see your life change to reflect the life of Christ more fully. I want to see you engaging others with the power of one who is intimately knowledgeable and connected to our Lord and Savior. I want to turn our homes, churches, communities, states and nation back to being and acting like those who believe in and follow Jesus Christ as our King.

We treat our relationship with Jesus much the say way we treat our problems. We claim we “know” Jesus when all we have had is a weekly “pill” from our local church. Some don’t even get that much, yet they think they know Jesus. Even many of those who go to extra “pill” meetings don’t get into the Gospels or their Bibles. Instead, they read a book by a respected and gifted Christian writer (sprint) and believe they “know Jesus”. (There is nothing wrong with most of these Christian writers and most of their books, but many don’t get you into your Bible and seriously connected with Jesus the way that studying the Gospels will do.

Some believers have even taken a thirteen week study of some highlights from Jesus life (sprint) or even studied one of the Gospels and believe that they have “arrived”. Yet they still live like the world instead of being changed by what they have learned.

Then we wonder why our Christian walk is no different than that of the non-Christian. Why are we having problems with sex outside of marriage, stealing, lying and cheating when we claim to be followers of Christ? Why are we watching sexually immoral movies or television programs and not complaining to the producers for putting such un-Godly material out for people to see? Why do we now have a government that is corrupt and more concerned about maintaining its (supposed) power than it is in serving the people who elected them?

The solution to all of this is to realize that being a Christian is like running a marathon, not a sprint. There is no way to run 50 yards and arrive at being a mature and complete believer. I have been running for 61 years now and I realize that I have much yet to learn to be a completed Christian. I know that I will run this race and it will not be over until I arrive at heaven’s door.

When I wrote the Getting To Know Jesus Bible study series, I realized that we cannot get to know Jesus adequately in thirteen weeks. Even by studying the Gospels one at a time, we miss the nuances that we receive from putting all four Gospels together in a harmony layout. When we commit to a long-term study of the life of Christ, we allow Him to change us a little at a time over a period of time. This kind of change isn’t always noticed, but it is more powerful because it is a life change built around our growing relationship with our Lord and Savior, not a temporary attempt at problem solving.

Like getting over many health maladies that we have brought on ourselves or losing weight, the solution is life-long, not in a pill or short-term process. You can build a powerful relationship with Jesus Christ that will help you make the other changes in your life that you need to make in order to make your health better by committing to take a three-year journey with Jesus through every event in His life and teachings. Many of you will take more than three years, but that will only give you more exposure to allow Jesus to come into your life and guide you in your walk with Him. Start Getting To Know Jesus now and build YOUR relationship with the Son of God.

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