A Matter of the Heart

So I'm out there running Saturday morning. Saturdays are our endurance days. We go four miles or more and now I'm running them again.

I'm not going very fast but not too bad considering the layoff. At about the 2.5 mile mark I'm struggling to get to the top of a long hill. And I make it. Then I walk.

My running buddy and trainer is about twenty yards ahead of me and can tell immediately that I've slowed down. So he turns around and comes back to me. "There's time to rest later. Get moving!"

I didn't say anything. I couldn't. Then he said, "You worked too hard to get your heart rate up. That's why we got up at 4:00 this morning."

There is a reason for everything. The reason I get up early three days a week is to improve my chances a living a few more days of quality life by strengthening my heart.

So I started thinking about my journey with the Lord. What's the point? It's a matter of the heart. Love the Lord with all your heart. Remember that verse? With my heart I love the Lord and I love other people. Above all else guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life. Remember that verse? My values are set in my heart.

And strengthening my heart takes work. I can't work a little and rest a little. I have to work hard and rest later. It would be a shame to run 2.5 miles, get my heart rate up, then stop and let my heart rate go back down before my heart really benefits from it. So I started running again and finished the 4.33 miles in 1:01:30.

I can't walk with the Lord every now and then. I have to stay with it in order to strengthen my heart, guard my heart. I can finish this race when I fix my eyes on Jesus. You can, too.