The Next Thing

For my training I had to run a timed 5k last night.  That is 3.2miles in layman's terms.  Ran it in 26:25 with stopping to tie my shoes and visiting a fellow runner for half a block.
Last February, I ran a race in Vegas and finished a little under 29 minutes.  It's amazing to me that with just running one more day a week and doing some speed drills how much time I was able to shave off. 

I have been thinking about my training for running compared to my time with the Lord.
Have I been making as much of an effort to commune with God, read the Word, serve Him, and praise Him?  Do I think about my training more than I think about the Lord? 
Sadly, some days I do.
There must be a balance in our lives of the things we love vs. what we allow to rule us.  If not, then things get out of whack.  Just as in running, if my focus is zeroed in on that and not on God, then all I think about is myself.  ....my next run, my body, food intake, when can I get away from home to go to the gym, etc. etc. 
But if God is my first priority then the focus shifts.  I start to think of Him and how to love more, serve my family better, give to others, pray.
What is your heart focused on today?
A favorite hobby?
A book you want to read?
Your hair, or face, or body
Maybe a person or
A fall season premier line up?
Or is it deeper?  Is there a situation you can't stop thinking about that you haven't fully given over to the Lord yet?
God doesn't offer a magical experience or a big eraser, but He does offer peace and shelter during the storm.

2 Corinthians 13:5
"Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.  Prove yourselves.  Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?- unless indeed you are disqualified."