#5kMay2019 Day 7 (BLOG)

Who made it through the first week? We did! #NailedIt!

You’ve got to love this beautiful Ohio weather! It is borderline getting hot, but I don’t want to complain about the heat, because I have spent all winter running in miserably cold conditions. Now here we are in #5kMay2019 and it feels like the weather is finally cooperating with us nicely.

Today I stretched out my run just a little bit. I don’t want to do too much, too fast -especially since I have my marathon coming up in just over a week. I am afraid that I will either (a) not get enough miles in as I prepare for the marathon and will end up not being strong enough, or (b) get too many miles in and will end up running on strong but dead (or injured) legs.

So I ran 5.25 miles this afternoon. I have a 5k “Triangle Route” that gets many miles throughout the year. The 5.25 was actually a double “Triangle Route”. Tomorrow is the Vertical Runner Group Run day (leaving from Vertical Runner of Wooster at 6pm), and then on Thursday I am going to do a triple “Triangle Route”.

I realize that there are many ways to get more miles, but I just found out that the May 17 marathon I will be running is actually 12 Laps of 2.13 miles plus a .64 mile out and back loop at the Start. That is going to be interesting… My “Triangle Route” is probably close to 2.13 miles with a little extra from my house and back, so I figured I would try to get myself in the habit of running that loop until I lose my mind.

Today’s run was actually not quite as slow as I was hoping. I ran 5.25 miles in 40 minutes and 4 seconds at an average pace of 7:37 per mile. I am hoping to be closer to 8 minutes per mile for my marathon. I don’t have any big goals for the race. In fact, I don’t even consider myself to be racing it. I am just planning to run it and hoping to feel relatively good when I cross the finish line.

In our daily Bible reading, Jesus is nearing ever closer to His own finish line.

I have always loved the story of Jesus riding in to Jerusalem on a donkey for that final Passover. The story became even more vivid for me about a month ago when my wife and I traveled to Israel and followed the trail that Jesus would have taken from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem.

For so much of His life and ministry, Jesus downplayed the fact that He was the coming King. He healed people, but told them not to tell anyone about it. He spoke to the multitudes in parables rather than explaining everything clearly. But as He comes riding in to Jerusalem on a donkey, he is no longer concealing who He is.

Of course, this is going to get Him into quite a bit of trouble.

People who are in power do not tend to like it when someone with more power comes to town. People do not tend to like having their authority challenged. It’s about to get real.

Before we go any further into the gospels… perhaps we should apply this reality to our own lives. Jesus is a cool guy. He is kind, gentle, loving -but He is also KING!

He does not always reveal Himself as King to us. He does not always exert His authority or His power. This is because He is a good King. He doesn’t want to lord His Kingship over us.

But He is King.

There are times in our lives when the cool, kind, gentle, loving King Jesus will stop suggesting what we should do and how we should live. Instead, He will command and demand. What do we do, then?

What do we do when King Jesus comes riding into our lives on a donkey?

What do we do when He flips the tables on us, reminding us of the many ways that we have missed the mark for God’s best in our lives?

What do we do when we realize that the parables He is telling are being told about us?!

Do we accept the rightful King of our heart’s kind correction and rebuke?

Or do we dig in on our claim to the throne and crucify Him?