Get Advice

Get Advice

Counsel and input from friends and fellow runners is valuable, but imagine getting long-distance running advice from Haile Gebrselassie from Ethiopia (men’s marathon world record holder—2:03:59, set in 2008) or Paula Radcliffe from Great Britain (women’s marathon world record holder—2:15:25, set in 2003). Who we listen to makes a big difference.

The same is true in the Christian life. But here’s a huge difference: Obtaining the services of a world-class runner or coach would be virtually impossible, but believers can learn from the ultimate spiritual Coach. In fact, he—our Creator and Redeemer, almighty God—invites us to talk with him and to read his playbook, the Bible. Yet many believers take for granted his presence or ignore his guidance. Not a good move.

The psalm writer Asaph declares, “You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny” (Psalm 73:24). He knew where following God’s advice would lead . . . and he followed.

The Runner

Troy swam competitively at the collegiate level and would swim laps at the Y pool a few times a week. He also had been riding his bike for a few years, so he was in good physical condition. But Troy had decided to compete in the local triathlon and needed to add running to his workout routine. (Eventually, he would like to finish an Ironman triathlon.) He wanted to do it right, so he researched online and talked with every runner he knew.

After a couple of weeks, Troy was pretty sure he could lay out a plan for successfully competing, except for one problem: Some of the advice from his runner friends seemed contradictory. One person told him to stretch for a long time before and after running; another one said that stretching wasn’t necessary, and he shouldn’t waste the time. And the advice varied on everything from the right shoes to buy to proper race pacing. Then, while reading the paper, he learned that a world-class marathon runner would be holding a clinic in another town. So he drove the hour, listened to the runner, and was able to spend some time with the runner one-on-one and ask all his questions. Good move!

The Race

We don’t have to drive an hour to talk with our Expert on faith and life—we can turn to him anytime in prayer. And we can easily access his book. So why don’t we do that more often? We may be so busy that one-on-one time with him gets crowded out of the schedule. We may think we’ve done all that before and take his guidance for granted. Or we may be unsure how to read and understand his Word. Fortunately, we have hundreds of resources available to us: modern language Bible translations (for example, the New Living Translation), study Bibles (for example, the Life Application Study Bible), commentaries and other Bible study tools, devotionals (such as this one), and many others in various formats. And we can hear Bible teachers through TV, the radio, CDs, the Internet, and podcasts. In addition, our other spiritual advisers can direct us to Bible passages and help explain their meaning and application.

The Result

God wants us to run his race right, to successfully complete the course, and he’s given everything we need in his Word. We just need to read, study, and apply it. The apostle Paul writes:

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Get advice from the One who knows.

My Story

In the mid 1980s, I ran a 5K road race in LaGrange, Illinois. Four of us were bunched in a group behind the lead runner. The rest of the field was far behind us. All I had to do was hold on and I would have no worse than fifth place. That is, if the fellow standing on the corner giving directions had pointed correctly. As Bugs Bunny said, “Nyahhh, I should’ve taken that left turn at Albuquerque.” We soon realized the problem, but none of us knew the area. A 3.1-mile race turned into a 5.5-mile run. We all finished near last place. Lesson learned? Check the map and be ready to run as long as needed.

Anthony

Think It Through

1. How many Bibles do you own? Which one do you read most often?

2. What keeps you from having a regular time of Bible study and prayer?

3. What study tools do you need to help you understand and apply Scripture?

4. What running buddy or other friend can you enlist to hold you accountable for this spiritual discipline?

On Running

How does my body stay cool in the heat?

Your body can stay cool in the heat in four ways: radiation, conduction, convection, and evaporation. Radiation is the vibration of heat molecules off skin and into the atmosphere. This accounts for 60 percent of heat loss. Conduction is direct contact with something cooler—your body gives off heat to that object. Convection is the movement of one medium across the skin surface (wind blowing, etc.). Finally, evaporation (found only in humans) occurs when the body sweats, and the evaporation of the sweat cools off the skin.