Running

I think we spend a good portion of our lives running, for some that means physically, but for most of us its metaphorical.

We spend our lives running away; running away from something. For some of us it’s the same thing over and over again, for others it’s a new thing each day. Perhaps a habitual sin, or a damaged relationship, or unbalanced finances, or a lie, or words spoken in anger. Perhaps it’s a feeling or emotions we just can’t bear to face.

Especially in this time of lockdown we have emotions that we just can’t face, it’s probably a mixture of boredom, a lock of social interaction, a feeling of ‘purposelessness’; and quite understandably we don’t like it, we hate it; and so, we run.

We spend our lives running.

And when we feel we can stop running and enjoy the place were in we’re constantly looking over our shoulder for when we’ll need to run away again – perhaps tomorrow perhaps next year.

We spend our lives running away from something (or things).

And where do we run to? Netflix is always a good choice – immersing yourself in a TV series enabling you to forget the reality of life and instead investing in make believe; or maybe towards a friend for a good old vent (or gossip if we’re being honest); or maybe to the pub; or maybe to bed, sleeping is a great way to forget the thing we’re running from. But then when the Netflix turns off, the friend has to go back to their own life, the pint glass is empty, we wake up – we realise the freedom has been short lived.

We spend our lives running away from something and towards things that are just as life sucking.

So why aren’t I running to Jesus? We need to shift our mindsets. Yes, I’m running away from sin or emotions that chain me but the more important thing here is what I’m running towards. Running towards the only hope this world has ever seen; the only thing in the entire universe who can permanently bring freedom.

I’ve learnt all of this – discipleship, worship, prayer, bible reading – all of it, is about running towards Jesus. Because running away from the past isn't the focus, it’s about running towards the one person who can bring true rest. That’s the goal, the whole point in faith: running towards the right thing – Jesus.

PS - This sounds like I'm really low, but I'm actually in a good place, I felt like this is for someone out there today... and me the next time I run.