Telling versus Teaching

Psalm 119:33

Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees;
       then I will keep them to the end.

One thing the elite runner has in common with the beginner is the need for instruction. Every one of us—whether accomplished veterans or brand new runners—can use guidance. We all greatly benefit when someone supports us, equips us, coaches us, and teaches us. If we want to achieve our goals, we need someone who not only tells us what to do but helps us apply what we have learned.

The person who wrote the Bible verse for today’s text asks the Lord to teach him the decrees so that he is able to keep them until the end. This psalmist, or writer, doesn’t ask the Lord to tell him the decrees; he asks the Lord to teach him the decrees. The distinction between the two is important. The psalmist isn’t interested in just attaining facts. Rather, he wants God to support, equip, coach, and teach him. He wants God to stay by his side throughout the learning process and beyond.

How often do we think God has merely told us to do something rather than realizing His willingness to actually teach us to do what He has commanded? We know we are commanded to love Him and love our neighbor but we forget that He is there to help us do both. And He is not just there to get us started. He perfectly follows through and is willing to forgive when we stray. Just as a faithful coach stays with the runner until his goals are met, the Lord will remain with us to support us, equip us, and guide us until the commands are fully learned.

Which of His commands do you struggle with today? Where do you find temptation in your life? Ask the Lord not just what He commands in your life today but to teach you to follow those instructions.

Father, I have read Your word and know what You command me to do. Now please teach me to do what You have called me to do. Show me, lead me, guide me, and equip me. In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.

Staying on Track

Romans 7:18b

For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

Several years ago, I signed up for a local race. For several weeks, I completed all my workouts on the course. I familiarized myself with all the streets and I knew where all the hills and turns were. I knew where each mile marker would be placed. I knew where the halfway point was and where the water stop would be.

Thus I was quite surprised on the morning of the race when the pacer on the bike took us the wrong way. Eight hundred meters into the race, the pacer missed a turn. I looked at the corner, looked at the pacer, and looked back at the corner. But I just kept running in the direction the pacer took us. I had a choice to turn, but doubt overcame me, and I chose not to do what I fully knew was right.

In our spiritual race, we also have ways to familiarize ourselves with the course. God gives us His Word and His commandments to show us the correct path to follow. He sets before us a perfect example of love and holiness in our Savior, Jesus Christ. He shows us the path of righteousness in the Bible, and He invites us to seek Him in all circumstances. Many times, though, despite a clearly marked path, we choose to follow our own course. We set out on a journey knowing the proper route, but at the very first turn, we follow someone or something other than Him. Fear or doubt can tempt us to change our course.

Paul speaks of this struggle in today’s text. But thankfully he also tells us who can save us from this struggle. The answer, of course, is Jesus. Jesus lovingly marked out the path for us, and He is able to make that path straight for us! And thankfully, He is also able and willing to forgive even our deliberate wandering from the path. He can and will set us straight once more. Let’s pray for his guidance now.

Lord Jesus, thank you that you have given me direction in life. Only your direction is good and proper for me. Please forgive me for straying from Your direction. Place me back on the path that leads to You, and keep me in the one true faith. In your perfect name I pray, AMEN.

Being the Body of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:26

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

“The toe bone’s connected to the foot bone; the foot bone’s connected to the leg bone; the leg bone’s connected to the knee bone...” As a runner, your grasp of anatomy is likely more sophisticated than this. Yet, this simple song explains a familiar problem: every part of the body is connected. Thus, pain or discomfort in one part of the body is usually felt all over. Your tight hamstrings affect your calves and feet. Your tense shoulders pull at your lower back. Even the smallest blister on the tip of your pinky toe can render your run, well, un-runable.

By God’s design, each body part is connected. Because of this connection, each part relies on the next. When one is not functioning properly, the other parts do not ignore it. They begin to fail in function, too. When one of your parts hurts, the rest of your parts suffer. When each part is properly strengthened and conditioned, it serves the other parts more efficiently and effectively. When each part is doing well, the entire body rejoices.

Throughout the Bible, we are reminded that we are the Body of Christ. Our brothers and sisters in the Christ – the people in your church, your neighbors, friends, and coworkers, the missionaries in foreign lands – are all the Lord’s hands, His feet, His heart. And just as the runner’s body experiences pain while running the road race, the Body of Christ on earth goes through many tribulations during the course of the human race. As members of the Body of Christ, we need to aid, assist, and comfort the members of Christ’s body just as we are to ice, rest, and care for our own human, injured bodies.

Sometimes we ignore a bodily injury, presuming or hoping that it is nothing and will soon go away. Is this our attitude with our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ? Do we hope that their life issues will be short lived and pass quickly so that we can just move on? Without a heartfelt belief that we truly are one body in Christ, we likely will be quick to turn our back on an aching body part. Let’s pray for a different perspective that glorifies God.

Lord God, open my eyes to see the parts of The Body that are aching, troubled, and injured. Remind me that the parts of Your body do not work in isolation but in union together.  Give me a heart of compassion for these parts and a wisdom to know how to serve them best. In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.

Fixing Our Thoughts on Christ

Hebrews 2:18 – 3:1
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted,

he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling,

fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

When my son was in second grade, his teacher taught the class a lesson on estimation in mathematics. To encourage the thinking process, she instructed the students not only to give an answer to the problem, but to write what they were thinking as they worked. My son gave a very honest answer: “When I am trying to estimate, I think to myself, ‘This is hard.’”

As a runner, how often have you found yourself saying those three words? I find myself thinking them too often: during a tough training run, running uphill or into the wind, during the final segment of a race. I’ve even said it out loud while running: This is hard.

Sports psychologists have told us for years that what we think and say affects our attitudes and actions. Without even trying to be Biblical, they speak of a key spiritual truth. What we think and believe affects our spiritual performance and can affect our spiritual walk too.

The writer of Hebrews tells us to fix our thoughts on Jesus as He is the one to help us during our temptation. What is our temptation when things get hard? The temptation may be to deny God’s power, to doubt God’s will, or to quit.

The challenges we endure in both our physical and spiritual races can be part of God “working us out” so that He can equip us for other works He has called us to. When you complete a difficult workout, look to God and acknowledge His power in the circumstance. Trust that He has promised to be faithful during times of temptation. But more importantly, look to Him to deliver you the next time you are tempted during your walk with Him. You can trust that you will find deliverance from the temptation and strength for the task.

Faithful Lord, help us in all situations to shift our thoughts from the difficulty of the circumstance to the hope that is in You. Remind us of Your immeasurable power that lives within us. In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.