Thank you for visiting. We trust that you have enjoyed reading our articles.
Run, Don’t Walk!
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7 NIV).
As a child, I reminder being told to walk and not to run. Today, many of us use the expression, “I am going to run to the store.” In fact, we are going to get in our car and drive to the store and then walk in to shop. I see many more walkers than runners in my neighborhood. I prefer to walk than to run but sometimes in life we need to run. Running is great for exercise, but we should also “run” or move quickly for other reasons. Below are a few examples.
If God is asking you to do something, then move quickly to do it. The dishonest manager in Luke 16 is not a hero because of his dishonesty but because he looked ahead, made a wise plan, and acted
quickly. Rahab is not a hero because she is a prostitute but because she quickly hid the men sent by Joshua into Jericho after the king’s messengers knocked on her door and inquired about the spies (Joshua 2:3-4). Both of these people were flawed but were of great service to advancing God’s kingdom because they acted in faith and acted quickly.
Third, always be quick to keep your promises to God. “If you make a promise to God, keep your promise. Don’t be slow to do what you promised. God is not happy with fools. Give God what you promised to give him. It is better to promise nothing than to promise something and not be able to do it” (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5). Many of us are procrastinators, or we wait for the perfect time to do something. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 11:4, “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.”
When you are faced with temptation, run. 2 Timothy 22 teaches, “Run from temptations that capture young people.” Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce a young, handsome Joseph, but he resisted. Genesis 39:12 tells us, “… he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.”
You should move quickly to accept God’s salvation. God has offered you salvation, and today is the day to accept it. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “Right now God is ready to welcome you. Today he is ready to save you.” How do you accept salvation? You turn away from yourself and toward God. You trust Christ to come into your life, forgive your sins, and make you who He wants you to be.
If you see an opportunity to do something good for someone else, do it immediately. God will put people in your life with needs. Proverbs 3:27 says, “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it’s in your power to help them.” John Wesley said, “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.”
Prayer: Dear God, Thank you for always welcoming us as we run to you. Amen.
Meet the Author
Todd Shupe is a Men’s Ministry Specialist through the General Commission of United Methodist Men and is in training to be a Certified Lay Minister through the Louisiana Conference of the United Methodist Church. He currently serves as the President of the Baton Rouge District of United Methodist Men and is a Board Member for Gulf South Men and serves on the Action Team for The Kingdom Group. He is a volunteer for the Walk to Emmaus, Grace Camp, and Iron Sharpens Iron. Todd resides in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
We welcome your comments below.
Liked this post?
Read more below or search for more topics...
-
Tear A Hole In The Roof!
Tear A Hole In The Roof! “One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle... -
Fathering A Special Needs Child
Fathering A Special Needs Child “1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” John 9:1-3 (NIV) On April 26, 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data on the prevalence of autism in the United States. This surveillance study identified 1 in 59 children (1 in 37 boys and 1 in 151 girls) as having autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism are both general... -
The Holy Covenant of Marriage – Part 4: Divorce
The Holy Covenant of Marriage - Part 4: Divorce “And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery” (Matthew 19:9 NIV). If marriage is a Godly uniting of a couple together, then divorce is a secular process to separate what God has united. The separation is not done with surgical precision and results in a “tearing apart.” The result is ugly and does not honor God. It is well known that approximately half of all first marriages end in divorce, and the divorce rate for subsequent marriages is even higher. I think this is because...