This morning, the Associate Pastor of Mt. Vernon Baptist (Richmond, VA) preached on the life of Samson. One of his points was that God gives us 'natural' abilities for the purpose of giving glory to God and in order to advance God's purposes on earth. Samson did that, though at times he promoted himself -- one of the things that makes the Bible so real is that it doesn't cover up the foibles of God's people.
So, that got me to thinking. This morning, in terms of speed/pace, I had the best run I've had in about 19 months. I ran 4.1 miles at a pace of 07:34 minutes per mile. Now, I am well aware that that's turtle speed when compared to a whole host of other runners -- elite marathoners run 26.2 miles at a pace of less than 5:00 mpm; there's a 73 year old Canadian man who has run more than a couple of marathons at a pace of about 6:48 mpm; any number of recreational runners run faster than I do. However, for this 51 year old who has been running regularly for about 2.3 years, running right at 7:30 mpm is pretty fast and gives me reason to believe that God has given me some ability in this area.
Thus, at the end of the sermon, I was wondering how I apply that particular lesson from Samson to my running. How can I use my ability to run, no matter how slowly, to God's glory and for the benefit of others? I don't have an answer, but those were my thoughts today. If you read this and have any insight, I look forward to reading your comments.
Bob
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