In an effort to encourage you to take up running as an everyday practice, I have no delusions of grandeur. I realize that it’s going to take some pretty powerful imagery to get us off the couch and into the habit of running. So let’s get started:
The most recent International House of Pancakes commercial is for their endless stack of pancakes, all you can eat pancakes. The camera zooms in on 4 pancakes stacked high, fluffy and golden brown, the vestiges of melting butter clearly visible with the maple syrup glistening as it covers the pancakes. The stack is cut into quarters, with one missing piece on the top, having been consumed by the lucky patron of your nearest IHOP Restaurant. Is it any wonder I’ve had a craving for pancakes for two weeks now?
The second picture is from the World Series of Poker and is of the lucky player sitting behind stack after stack after stack of poker chips, chips of every color and value that are out there. Those chips tell the story of someone who is beyond lucky, drawing three-of-a-kind, straights, flushes and full houses hand after hand. And for every euchre player out there who complains of far too many Farmer’s Hands, those stacks seem too good to be true.
The third example is found in Eugene Peterson’s rendering of Psalm 31:19 in The Message Bible:
The most recent International House of Pancakes commercial is for their endless stack of pancakes, all you can eat pancakes. The camera zooms in on 4 pancakes stacked high, fluffy and golden brown, the vestiges of melting butter clearly visible with the maple syrup glistening as it covers the pancakes. The stack is cut into quarters, with one missing piece on the top, having been consumed by the lucky patron of your nearest IHOP Restaurant. Is it any wonder I’ve had a craving for pancakes for two weeks now?
The second picture is from the World Series of Poker and is of the lucky player sitting behind stack after stack after stack of poker chips, chips of every color and value that are out there. Those chips tell the story of someone who is beyond lucky, drawing three-of-a-kind, straights, flushes and full houses hand after hand. And for every euchre player out there who complains of far too many Farmer’s Hands, those stacks seem too good to be true.
The third example is found in Eugene Peterson’s rendering of Psalm 31:19 in The Message Bible:
“What a stack of blessings you have piled up
for those who worship you,
Ready and waiting for all who run to you
to escape an unkind world.”
for those who worship you,
Ready and waiting for all who run to you
to escape an unkind world.”
So maybe it’s not the kind of running you envisioned as you decided whether this devotion just might be better placed in the junk mail bin of your email account. But it is the kind of running that lays hold of God’s strength for today, it’s the kind of running that finds comfort and encouragement in the daily struggles of life, and it’s the kind of running that gets you through the roughest of times. Running to God doesn’t always come naturally; we all too often turn to other people or to other outlets first to ease our pain and frustration. But that pales in comparison to the stack of blessings that God has ready and waiting for those who run to him for strength, support and help in their times of need. This turn to God first kind of running is a habit that has to be developed, one that takes a certain kind of spiritual discipline to master, but it’s the kind of running guaranteed to leave you in the best shape of your life!
God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church
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