5k Every Day in the Month of May 2017 (Day 1)
Here we go again! After completing a full year of running at least a 5k every day for 365 days, it begins again with another 5k Every Day in the Month of May.
My run for Day One was pretty great. I am still in the mountains of Colorado. The air is still cold and sparse. The elevation gain is still substantial. And it feels great to get out and enjoy God’s creation with a morning run.
Today I ran 3.1 miles in 24 minutes and 58 seconds. I had an average pace of 7:59 per mile.
The first mile was still a struggle to breathe. I don’t know if I will ever get used to this mountain air, but it actually seemed even MORE difficult to breathe today than in previous days.
I actually read my 3 chapters prior to running 3.1 miles today, so Matthew 1-3 was on my mind as I ran.
Two things especially stand out to me in today’s Bible reading. The first is how powerfully God used dreams in the birth of Jesus and in keeping him safe as a child. If you read along, you probably noticed these verses:
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” – Matthew 1:20-21
And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, [the wise men] departed to their own country by another way. – Matthew 2:12
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” – Matthew 2:13
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” – Matthew 2:19-20
But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. – Matthew 2:22
That is a lot of important stuff that came about because of dreams. God is obviously in the business of using dreams in our lives. Maybe not quite as dramatically as we see here in the opening chapters of Matthew (or maybe every bit as dramatically), but one way or another God is able to work powerfully through the dreams that He gives us.
Now, I know these passages are talking about the kind of dreams that you have when you are asleep, but this idea of God giving us dreams and using our dreams reminds me of what is promised in Psalm 37.
Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. – Psalm 37:4
This feels like a similar message to me. God gives us dreams (or desires of our hearts), and He promises to give those dreams to us, or make them come true! But… that is not the most important part of the verse. Not by a long shot. The most important part is in the beginning. Delight yourself in the LORD.
The promise is for our dreams to come true as we delight ourselves in the LORD. In fact, if we delight ourselves in the LORD, and our dreams do not come true, it will only be because by delighting ourselves in the LORD, He has given us different dreams… and the dreams that He gives are destined to come true!
So go ahead. Delight yourself in the LORD. How do you do that? By recognizing His goodness. Acknowledge His sovereign hand in your life. You have air to breathe because He gives it! Your heart is pumping blood, your brain is thinking and comprehending because He made it work that way! Your body moves (and hopefully you were able to run or walk a 5k today) because He created us that way!
What’s not to delight in?!
I love the follow-up verse in Psalm 37:
Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. – Psalm 37:5
Let’s commit our way to the LORD today, and trust in Him, knowing that He will act on our behalf, and He will give us the desires of our hearts.
5k Every Day in the Month of May Challenge: remember to check in by leaving a comment on my blog to let me know that you are tracking with me! Feel free to give the details of your run / walk and let me know that you read Matthew 1-3 or even share something that was sticking out to you as you read.
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It was a beautiful day for a run. Little windy but nice.
Matthew keeps it moving. Which I didn’t mind during genealogy part. I have problems processing and saying there names.
What stuck out was Christ getting baptized. The whole idea of Heavens open up and God speaking and the spirit of God on him. I would say God was excited and proud. It makes me think of baptisms I see and it is a exciting time.
Very beautiful here in Colorado, too! The baptism stuck out to me, as well. Last night someone asked the question: “If you could witness any New Testament event taking place, what would it be?” After reading this morning, I changed my answer to “the baptism of Jesus”.
I have accepted the challenge thanks to Jim Hershberger!
Awesome! It’ll be fun!
Melissa and I went on our usual run this morning of about 2 miles. When we were almost home, I mentioned your 5k and scripture challenge, and we decided to do both! We turned around and went another 1.1 miles (at a bit of a slower pace). We don’t have the time of our 5k since we didn’t start off with a 5k or timing in mind.
We were actually almost finished working through the book of Matthew on our own and in our church here in Marietta before this challenge, but it definitely doesn’t hurt to start over and read it again. One part that stuck out to me was in chapter 3 when John baptized Jesus and “he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.” This description, along with the voice from heaven that follows, is pretty powerful in showing and explaining the connection of Jesus and his Father.
Good work on the extra 1.1!! You guys rock! Glad you are joining us for the journey! No worries on the timing. That part is just for fun.
I am blown away by everything that happens at the baptism of Jesus, too. So cool.
I want to say I’m committed, but not sure how it’ll all work out with my schedule!
Awesome! Glad to have you along for the journey!
Ran my 5k today bro. We will see how long I can last.
That’s awesome!! You can do it!
I got my 5k in walking with you, and read my chapters too. Thanks for keeping me company!!
And what a magical walk it was!
Cindy and I are in.
Got my 3s in for today. Thanks for the challenge
Thanks for joining!! It’s going to be a great journey!
Paul and I are in. Not sure what we’re getting into, but I figure almost 100 miles in 31 days…what could possibly be wrong with that!!
Good point!! I like the way that you think!
Kind of excited and apprehensive at the same time. I can run a 5k, but everyday….whew. Let’s try it!
Tonight at bedtime read chapters with my kiddos. We talked a lot about baptism. How do they know when they are ready? What does the water feel like? What change does it make? And on it went. Conversations to cherish for a lifetime.
How cool!! What a great conversation to have as a family!
Day 1 down. Did my 5k as a walk/ run. I actually read 2 chapters during the walking moments. Loved reading and dwelling on the words. The phrase that caught me was Jesus’ first words in this gospel before John consented to baptizing him; “let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness”. Here is Jesus, who doesn’t need to repent or be baptized yet is saying this needs to be done to “fulfill all righteousness”. Not for himself but for ALL of us. God’s wonderful plan being revealed!
Glad to have you on the journey, Jim! I love that insight into Matthew 3. Jesus was sinless, yet was baptized to fulfill all righteousness.
Geiser’s are in. Day one down! Exciting to see how many people are a part of this! I did a 5K on the treadmill. My time was 27:52 with an 8:58 pace. Randy ran outside 3.23 miles in 26:39 with an 8:15 pace. We had Nicole read the chapters and were all struck by different things. Randy was thinking about John’s humility, I was reminded again by how Jesus just fulfilled everything written about Him 100s of years before He even came and Nicole enjoyed the orderliness of the genealogy.
Very cool! Glad to have you all on board! What a great thing to do as a family! Hope the journey is awesome for you!
I became aware of this when JP texted me at 9 tonight. At this point I was on the couch with my wife, the Cavs game, a drink in my hand, and blisters on my toes from the marathon yesterday…..but I was afraid I would regret it if I quit on the first day so I plodded through 3.1 on the treadmill downstairs. On the bright side, I discovered my Bible App can read to me while I run. I was impressed again with the thought of Emanuel..God with us. I think the thought of God planning that out on our behalf over thousands of years struck me in a different way hearing it outside of the Christmas season.
Amen! Glad to have you on the journey, Derrick (blisters and all)! Good work!
Is this where I post that I ran today??? Is this like a prehistoric Strava?
Haha. Yep! Prehistoric Strava!
Making it happen! 5k one way or another.
Awesome!! Good work!
So I’m in this thing. Have to assume that since something woke me at 4am and said “Go.” So, I went. Day #2 down with 3.2 miles. Yesterday 4 miles. Sunday April 30, 26.2 miles. Can I get a credit for those? Carry-over miles, please?
What do I get myself into? Geez. Here we go.
Haha. So great! Glad to have you along for the journey! I wish I could give rollover credits for the 26.2! In lieu of rollover credits, I’ll just say, “awesome job!”