I think if New Testament author Paul were alive today, he’d be a great running coach! He’d be the kind who’d watch your running form, time your splits, pace you on your long runs, and high-five you after every workout. He’d also tell you if fried chicken and nachos paired with staying up all night Netflix marathoning the night before a race was a bad idea.

If you’re a runner like me and all your 2020 races have been cancelled or postponed, you might be needing some extra accountability and motivation to continue the good habits you’ve worked so hard to build into your daily life. In a typical calendar year, I sign up for 20-25 races. These strategically scheduled races have been a continual source of goal setting and training cycles. With no foreseeable “finish line” to the current COVID19 situation, what’s next Coach?

Obviously, Paul wasn’t assuming we’re all marathon runners when he put pen to paper – or quill to scroll. He did write from experience and divine inspiration from THE ultimate coach: Jesus! Paul knew his audience well because he lived amongst them and knew their ways – many of which were unhealthy to put it mildly. He was unwavering in his convictions and stick-to-it-ive-ness when it came to staying the course. That course was not the famed Boston or even Athens marathon course. IT WAS THE COURSE OF DAILY LIFE. It was living each day with the discipline of developing a character and lifestyle worthy of high-fives from Coach Jesus! He knew it’d be tough and full of setbacks. He knew temptations would abound.

Our current situation is no surprise to Him. He also knows each one of us intimately and that those things which have caused us to go off course in the past are magnified now with the security of jobs, school, shopping, gyms, entertainment, and routine absent. But check it out – He says “NEVER GIVE UP!” Each day is a new “race” opportunity. His mercies are new every morning. At the end of the day, how will you cross your finish line? Was it a better day than the one before? Did you hit your goals? Or were your goals too lofty? Here’s a goal anyone can hit: CHECK IN WITH COACH JESUS FIRST THING IN THE MORNING. I’ve actually said out loud when I get out of bed “What’s the plan today, Coach?” As you go about your day with Coach by your side, ask and listen to how He directs you. Yes, in everything from meals to exercise to parenting to finances to TV. How will you run your race today?

“We are surrounded by a great cloud of people whose lives tell us what faith means. So let us run the race that is before us and never give up. We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back. Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect. He suffered death on the cross. But he accepted the shame as if it were nothing because of the joy that God put before him. And now he is sitting at the right side of God’s throne.” Hebrews 12:1-2 NCV

“You know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize. So run to win! All those who compete in the games use self-control so they can win a crown. That crown is an earthly thing that lasts only a short time, but our crown will never be destroyed. So I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something—not just the air. I treat my body hard and make it my slave so that I myself will not be disqualified after I have preached to others.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NCV

Prayer for today:

Coach Jesus,
Thank you that your mercies are new every morning. Thank you for seeing all my faults, struggles, and failures and still loving me. I praise you because it’s through you that I am a new creation. I am redeemed and saved by your grace. I praise you because I am imperfect but have a perfect God. Today I ask for strength, creativity, and discipline to do well the things I need to do for my family and my work. I ask for self-control when it comes to exercise, eating, and entertainment. Open my eyes to those parts of my day that I give up too easily to temptation. Help me rely on you more each time and each day to overcome that which derails me from focusing on you. May my goal each day be to cross that finish line with high-fives from you.
For your glory, Jesus! Amen!