Finishing Strong

I have recently become a runner. Having never been an athlete in any form or capacity in my entire life, this is a real accomplishment for me. I remember the day I made it to 30 minutes of straight running. Talk about wanting to throw a party to celebrate! I felt like I had finally accomplished something. All of those days of feeling like my lungs were going to explode in my chest or that I might fall off the treadmill if I had to keep going finally were worth it. Now that I have gotten to a point where I can run for 30 minutes, it is time to start training for something. (At least that is what all the running articles I have read have said)... So.. my very first 5k will be in October.
Our spiritual life is compared to a race too.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1
It is interesting to me that Paul compared it to a race. Now that I am training for one, I know how important it is to fix your eyes on the finish. When you have a goal, it is so much easier to keep at something. God knew that the spiritual walk wasn't going to be easy for us. He knew it would take discipline (perseverance) to make it to the end. He knew we would want to give up. He knew there would be serious roadblocks in our way. That is why he specifically gives us some tips...
1. throw off everything that hinders us
There are a lot of things that hinder me when I am running. What I ate that day, if I didn't sleep well the night before, if I overdid it at the gym the day before and I am sore... lots of different things.
In life, there are a lot of things that hinder us... don't really think I need to list them all (there isn't room anyway)
2. Get rid of the sin that so easily entangles us.
There is a difference between hindrances and sins. When I think of hindrances, I think of distractions. But sin is sin. And we all know what that is because we all have it in our lives.
3. Develop perseverance
It takes discipline. It takes being super committed to finishing. If you aren't committed, you won't finish strong. If you aren't really dedicated to what you are doing, you won't accomplish your goal.

I know there are hindrances(distractions) in my life keeping me from fixing my eyes on the finish. I know there are sins that have wrapped themselves around my life slowing me down and trying to keep me from finishing. I know I lack discipline in certain areas of my life. But I know what God has called me to do. He's called me to run this race strong, to be a witness for Him with my life, to live a holy life, and He's called me to keep at it until the finish. And I also know I want to finish strong. It's going to take some pruning in my life.. some cleaning out of the closets, getting rid of some distractions. But I am determined to finish strong.