…let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

I love to run and I have the utmost respect for distance runners and especially those who are ultrarunners who can cover vast distances in a single run or over a set period of time.  One of the greatest of our time has been Scott Jurek.  Jurek wrote a book a few years ago on running, fitness and diet and in this book, “Eat and Run”, he tells the story of Australian ultra runner Percy Cerutty who in 1939 adopted what Cerutty called a “Stotan” lifestyle to help him overcome a two-year impending death diagnosis.  “Stotan” was a cross between being “spartan” and “stoic”.  Being “Stotan” was, Cerutty wrote; “An athlete needed hardness, toughness, and unswerving devotion to an ideal, but he also needed to embrace diet, philosophy, cultivation of the intellect, and openness to artistic endeavors.  You only ever grow as a human being if you’re outside your comfort zone.” (footnote – Cerutty lived to be 80 years old and dodged that doctor’s diagnosis).  How often in business do we consider all aspects of who we need to be so we can become the full picture?  We more often than not find ourselves focused, in silos, heads down and maybe even purposefully ignoring the bigger picture and influences that could distract us.  Maybe we should consider becoming more “Stotan” in how we approach our business challenges.

The Apostle Paul writes enough about running and athleticism that he either was an athlete himself or he truly appreciated what it was to be an athlete.  He tells us that our spiritual journey is a race.  He tells us to strip down the weights that hold us back, to open our eyes to God and fix ourselves on the victory of falling into Jesus’ arms as we break the finish tape of life.  It is a beautiful picture to imagine.  Today is a lap of the race that we run.  Will we take today and run the lap that we are in to our best ability or let this lap get away from us?  As Cerutty said, to be the best athlete we must “do” and we must take ourselves to places that are beyond our comfort zone.  God never said our race to Him would be easy.  But, He did say it would be well worth the effort!

Reference: Hebrews 12:1 (New Living Translation)