5k Every Day in the Month of May 2017 (Day 21)
Phew! I made it! My goal was to run at least 70 miles for the week and today I ran a 10k, which put me at 70.9 total miles for the week.
Yay!
I started with a nice 3.1 with Jodi at around a 10:00 per mile pace. Then she stopped after the 5k (because she is smart) and I kept going so that I could reach my goal. Once I was flying solo, I dropped it down to around an 8:00 per mile pace (or a little faster). It felt good to let my legs run a little bit -especially after that nice warm-up.
During the last mile my left thigh started to tighten up a bit. I hope that will not turn into a problem. As for now I am just thinking it was mostly weather related. It was a HOT run! My shirt was drenched with sweat by the end. It was a really muggy afternoon and it felt like it could start raining at any moment (I really wish it would have… that would have felt a lot better).
Overall it was a good run. I ran 6.2 miles at an overall average pace of 8:46 per mile. My total running time was 54 minutes and 34 seconds.
As for the daily Bible reading, I am probably being influenced by the weekend at Wayumi, but the end of Luke 19 is what most stuck out to me.
And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” – Luke 19:45-46
Last night (or more accurately, this morning) we got home from Pennsylvania, where we were leading worship for the Wayumi Youth Day event, and I mentioned in my blog that I planned to get up and go to church because it is important.
I did get up and go to church, and I do believe it is important. I believe that we should NOT forsake the meeting together (see Hebrews 10:25). However, I am not going to pretend that all of the meeting together is good and right and godly.
I wish it were, but it’s not always.
Just because a building has a sign that says “church” on it, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a thriving, Bible-preaching, Gospel-advancing, Christ-honoring group of people who are meeting there. I wish it did, but it doesn’t. I have found this out first-hand on too many occasions.
I am a firm believer that every follower of Christ should find a thriving, Bible-preaching, Gospel-advancing, Christ-honoring church to plug in to and be a part of. I am also a firm believer that sometimes tables need to be tossed in places where people claim to follow God but adapt ways of doing things that look nothing like Him.
This is apparently what Jesus was thinking, as well.
So he enters the temple with a handmade whip and starts flipping the money-changers’ tables while quoting scripture. What an awesome scene! He means business!
Why did he quote Isaiah 56 while turning the temple tables upside-down? How does that even fit in? Here is a fuller version of the portion of Isaiah that Jesus quoted from:
“And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD,
and to be his servants,
everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
and holds fast my covenant—
these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.”
The Lord GOD,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
“I will gather yet others to him
besides those already gathered.” -Isaiah 56:6-8
It appears from the text that Jesus was quoting that he was most upset about how the Jewish leaders were excluding the foreigners and outcasts.
The money tables were set up in what was called “the court of the Gentiles”, which is where the non-Jewish people would meet to worship God. But seeing an opportunity to make money, the Jewish leaders allowed money tables to be set up in that court, filling the space, and making it so there was no place for the Gentiles (or non-Jews).
Sure, Jesus was likely upset about the opportunistic price-gauging and greed that was taking place, but the biggest issue is that the religious leaders were actually keeping people FROM coming to God, rather than actively sharing the love of Christ WITH them.
So… he made a little room. He drove out the money-changers, flipped the tables, and effectively opened up more space so that the Gentiles could draw near to God once again.
Well, as I fellow Gentile, I can honestly say that I am incredibly thankful that Jesus made it possible for me to come to God. I hope that I am never guilty of making it difficult for others to come to Him, as well.
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Congratulation Jeff on 70.9 miles this week. That’s a lot.
This month has went faster then any month. Which is good for my legs. It’s been great to be a part of the challenge knowing I have brother and sisters running and reading everyday. It’s been a blast. Keep up the great work everyone with your running and your reading. It’s been great to see how God has spoke to everyone through the verses.
5k done for the day. My legs are pretty shot and I don’t think I will be making my goal of reaching high 7:00 pace time.
It’s is interesting in Luke 18 when Jesus was telling about him getting captured and hung that the disciples it said at the end didn’t understand. It seems to be the same for them in the parables too. Reminds me of myself. I read the Bible and sometimes really am clueless. But it’s cool to see how Christ picked these guys to be his disciples and spread the gospel. Same as we are.
Also the end of 18 it talked about the blind guy and when he heard the crowd and he asked they told him it was Jesus passing by. He called out to Jesus and he asked the blind guy what he wanted. Of course he wanted healed and Jesus did. It’s interesting to me how it seemed that everyone knew who Jesus was that he was a guy that could heal. How did word travel so fast? Al Gore wasn’t around yet so the World Wide Web was not created yet there was no telephones or pony express or telegrams. It’s interesting how people knew of Christ.
Glad the month is going well for you and I agree that it has been great to have others in the challenge together! Keep working and you will reach your goal.
Great job on the 70 miles!!! Makes me tired thinking about it. I did another full 5K after being able to run one with you in Pa. I figured out the mind game. When running with you, I just told myself “I just have to get to the stop sign”. After we got there and turned around it was “I just need to make it to the driveway”. I kept that mindset till we got back. Sometimes we set our mind to far ahead to get to a goal, rather then just putting one foot in front of the other, Getting to one place rather then thinking of where we need to end up. Not sure that makes sense but it helped me.
I have to admit, I slept in on Sunday. (And slept part of the day). I feel a bit of conviction after reading your blog, and the scripture of the day. I had the mind set “I’ll be to tired” instead of just getting there. The same with my running I guess. Thanks for these blogs and for your boldness for Christ! Keeping it real and straight to the point. Admittedly, I allowed past situations with churches also keep me from being faithfully attending church. I need to work on that also…
Haha… I’m glad that God was able to use my words to encourage you to make church a priority. Now what you do with that conviction is what really matters!
Way to go on your 5k!
It was cold and windy in Iowa, but made it out of my chair and through another 5k. 70.9 miles, that’s just crazy, and amazing. Good job Jeff.
I have always loved the story of Zacchaeus. Probably because I loved to climb trees as a kid. But, what a conversion story. Do I long to see Jesus like Zacchaeus?
Haha. I loved to climb trees as a kid, too! I haven’t done that in a while… Way to get out of your chair and thanks for sharing!
We got our 3.1 and 3 chapters in today! Our time was 25:52 which makes for a 8:20 average. We thought this was pretty good considering we were running on the beach. You can run 3 miles, and it seems like you didn’t go anywhere! One thing that stuck out to me in the reading was when Jesus cleansed the 10 lepers. Only one returned to praise him and Jesus said your faith has made you well. Does that mean the others got their leprosy back?
Beach running is so funny to me. Sometimes I feel likeI am flying realize that I am NOT. Other times I feel like I am just dragging along and come to find out that I was going pretty fast. Either way, you are at the BEACH, so how bad could it be?!
I don’t know about the others getting their leprosy back, but I do know that it is so easy to receive a great gift from God (like that air I just breathed) and forget to praise Him for it -or even give Him credit for it. I would like to think that something major like being healed of leprosy would make me turn and thank God, but “he who is faithful with little can be trusted with much”, so I think I better start growing in thanking God in the little things!