I just don’t love distance running. The only 10K run I have ever done was not my idea. It was offered to me as a personal challenge.
I had just completed a two-week back-packing trip in mountainous wilderness in beautiful British Columbia. It was a group effort, designed to build character and leadership skills.
In preparation for it, I had done some running to build my stamina. Though I had few details prior to the program, I knew we were going to be carrying heavy packs and hiking is very steep terrain. So I ran.
It turned out that the final physical challenge of the two weeks was a 10-kilometer run. I had never come close to that. I didn’t have a clue if I could do it.
Though that was 37 years ago, I remember several things quite clearly. I remember the onset of painful breathing. Determined to deal with it, I found a rhythm between the jogging and the breathing and the spitting. I discovered that this rhythm worked. It hurt. But it was sustainable.
That rhythm and that level of painful progress carried me to the finish line, having never broken that jogging pace in 10 kilometers. It was a satisfying, joyful finish. I never felt a need to do it again.
This morning, thinking of Holy Week and the suffering of our Saviour Jesus Christ, I read Hebrews 12:1-2:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
There are no short-cuts when we are on the right path, pursuing life in Christ. There are no substitutes for the sometimes-painful rhythms of endurance. Not if we expect the “joy” that Jesus anticipated in the process.
One of my teammates on that 10K run caught a ride with a passing car. He finished long before me. He bypassed the painful part. I suspect he had a different type of “joy” as his team members crossed the finish line, one by one.
Another of my teammates took a wrong turn. He ran further than necessary. Still, he finished.
It is a really big deal that Jesus took no shortcuts in the course laid out before him. It is astounding that he “ran” with endurance, looking at the outcome–the gift of life for the entire world. His indescribable suffering was the means of providing eternal life for the world. I worship him. I receive that life.
Please look to Jesus as the model for life, for suffering, for joy, There are no shortcuts when we are on the right path.