Your Vocation As A "Marathon Run"Sample

Do not Run the Marathon of life Carrying all that Stuff

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1, 2)

I have run a few marathons- Chicago, Boston, and New York. 

In my first Chicago Marathon, I thought I would need everything. I knew it was going to be 26.2 LONG miles of running. So, I wore my nice jacket, because it was cold, when I began the race early in the morning. At mile 3, I had to shed the jacket. But, it was an expensive jacket. So, I held on to it. I also carried my water bottle, because I wanted to be well hydrated. It was a nice water battle, gifted to me by my wife.  I held on that also. I carried a Sony Cassette Walkman, because I knew it was a long run, and I wanted to listen to some nice worship music, while I ran. These devices were not small things in those days. By mile 6.2, I realized that I could not just keep running carrying all this stuff. It was just weighing me down, and slowing me down. I realized that it was a foolish decision to carry all this stuff. So I just dumped everything into the hands of a spectator outside Moody Church.  She kindly took it from me! Thankfully, I realized in the following days that the spectator was the Office Manager of Moody Church. I was able to retrieve my precious baggage a few days later. But, running with all that baggage would have been a foolish decision. It would have impeded my progress in my very first marathon. 

I have seen marathon runners run with all sorts of clothing, because their culture would not let them run without these. I have seen runners run with inappropriate shoes, long pants, and so on. They just get over heated and have to stop. 

I have seen runners, who have obviously not trained for the marathon. They are carrying too much weight on them. It does not seem like they have trained for the marathon. They give up pretty early. 

We eat food, which we know is not good for us. Even seasoned marathon runners eat food which they know is not good for them. There is a misconception that marathon runners can eat anything, and they will OK. Of course, one realizes that it is not OK. Just training for a marathon, does not give you the liberty to eat bad stuff. 

Other habits like smoking are not good for you. Smoking effects your heart. It increases the likelihood of coronary heart disease. One needs much oxygen to run a marathon. Smoking causes carbon monoxide to be inhaled into your lungs. This causes a lack of oxygen supply. One cannot run well with this baggage. 

In running the marathon of life, we do similar things.

We all have baggage in life. 

We put it in our garage. 

Some put it in the basement. 

Some put it in this nifty places called storage units. 

We gather things because we think we cannot live without these things. We know they are impeding our lives. But, we think that sometime they will somehow become good for us.  

Lot of these things are bad things. Classical thought has collated these bad things into seven categories: Lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride.  The Bible goes into a great amount of details on these in the Torah, and in the Ten Commandments.  Jesus gets to the root of these baggages. He says, “Get to the root of murder and violence. Eradicate it by uprooting anger completely. Get to the root of lust, adultery, and sexual violence. Do not let any idea of wrong desires enter your eyes or thoughts. Uproot this baggage completely.”  All these baggages simply bog us down, and impede our marathon run called Life. 

There is also baggage that one does not need- extra money stacked away in banks; extra housing; extra clothing, extra . . . Jesus says, “You do not need all this baggage. It only impedes your run, and you worry about holding on to this stuff all the time. Learn from nature. Be like the flowers of the field, and birds the sky. They are free. So, be free of all this stuff, and you will be a good marathon runner.” 

A Prayer:

Oh Lord help me get rid of all this baggage, that I may run FREELY, this marathon called Life.