As I sit down to write this, I’ve got an eye on the clock. It’s only an hour to my daughter’s sports day and I promised her I’d be there.

This morning was interesting. She was so excited that she was literally bouncing every time she talked about it. She loves speed and is more than a little competitive. Hopefully she’ll do ok!

One of the pictures the Bible uses to talk about life with God is a running race. Not a quick 100m, it’s something much longer that requires endurance. How do you enter? The answer the Bible gives is this: put your trust in Jesus. Yet, the focus here is not so much on being at the start but getting to the finish.

If I go for a run, the first few steps feel good. I’m fresh and it lifts me to get out. But there always comes a point where my legs start to feel heavy, and the effort needed begins to grow. That’s when the mind battles begin. It’s so easy to stop and walk for a bit; so tempting to give up.

It’s the same when it comes to life with God. That’s why the Bible says, ‘let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.’ Hebrews 12:1 (NIV). The encouragement here is to keep on going all the way to the line.

For me, this is one of the great benefits of being part of a church community and I’m so thankful to God for it. It’s so much easier to keep going if you’ve got others spurring you on. That’s true on the running track and it’s true in spiritual life too.

Maybe, as you read this, you can identify a time when you started with Jesus. It might be a stage when you were interested in him, or perhaps a time when you made a commitment to Christ. Yet, as the years have gone by you’ve drifted away. Why not make it an aim to get involved in a church. You’ll discover more of Jesus and find encouragement as you do so.

It’s doesn’t have to be us, but if you wanted to come along to one of our services, we meet at 10:30 on a Sunday morning and 5:30 on a Sunday evening. It would be great to see you.

If you want to know more about Jesus and the difference the Bible says he can make in your life, you can contact me via the contact form on our website.