"He also made me fast"

Eric Liddell has been on my mind probably since I popped in Chariots of Fire back in early April. I started running again because I was inspired by the movie. The day I started back up, Kendra invited me to run the Bolder Boulder with her, and I realized how much I had wanted to run that last year, but was out of town. Perfect.

And not too long ago, during a Bible reading time, we were talking about finishing the race. I asked the students, "Why do I run?" After a short discussion we figured upon two main reasons.

1. I run because I love it.
2. I run to win.

Let's be honest, if there wasn't a prize, I'd be less motivated. Even when I talked to a friend from IVN about getting back into running, he stopped to think about whether he would run the Bolder Boulder too. "No, I don't have enough time."

"But you just said you ran for 40 min straight."

"Yeah, but I want to win."

Even though there was a hint of showing off involved in that, I thought it made sense. While personally, I just want to finish this one (I've hardly had enough time to run 6.2 miles fast), it would be neat to win. I can't say I haven't had daydreams about it.

But the purpose of the brief discussion of why we run paralleled a bigger issue: Why do we live? I had recently given a talk about why we live if there was no heaven. I was trying to show that Christianity wasn't JUST about the end goal, but about doing something with our lives right now. The more that I think about it, the more I understand it to be a combination of the two. Jesus, throughout the Sermon on the Mount, gives plenty of mention about reward after all.

Not that we do anything to really earn the reward. Christ in us helps us to live as we should.

I clarify that (though admittedly, poorly), thinking of a character in East of Eden. He's a priest, and he sounds downright self-righteous. What was it he said? "Think how [the Lord Jesus] insisted that we preach the Gospel, help the sick and poor, even lower ourselves into filth to raise sinners from the slime.."

I dunno. Maybe it's that I feel like the priest is suggesting he has rid himself of all the filth of sin. Every time I read the Scriptures, I am reminded of my own wretchedness, my own need of grace. I have to ask, how could anyone be sinless within this world? (Apart from Jesus, that is.)

But that's a sidetrack. Another one was last night at the soccer game. I sat with Mr. Crawford who also happened to bring up Chariots of Fire. He said that whenever he watched his son play, he felt God's pleasure. It is a joy to watch Scott play soccer (to understand how good Scott is, let's just say the other goalie at one time screamed, "Don't let him shoot!!"), just as it is a joy to watch his daughter Kelsey dance. I thought that was way cool of a father to say.

What am I getting at? My joy in life comes from serving students, but He also made me enjoy other things like the saxophone, running, writing, etc. etc. I choose to live for Him in all these things.