"How to Become a World-Class Marathoner - by the World's Best Distance Running Coaches"
Eye-popping, attention-grabbing lines like these invariably find their ways onto covers of running and fitness magazines. The premise seems simple enough - follow the advice to the letter, and you'll become a better, faster runner. A typical list contains plenty of common-sense and "no duh" items, like:
1) Get enough sleep.
2) Lose some weight if you're fat.
3) Watch what you're eating - forget that double bacon cheeseburger and beer.
4) Start slow and gradually go faster and longer.
5) Don't run if you're sick.
6) Don't run if you're hurt, say, like you developed a stress fracture.
7) Don't get sick and don't get hurt, and you'll improve faster.
8) You got to run fast if you want to run fast.
9) Cut back if you overtrained and are worn out.
10) Follow the 24-week, 150 mile-per-week training plan on page 89 (the one this world-class coach used to help his world-class athlete break the world record).
So far, so good. Maybe not the 150 mpw elite training plan yet, otherwise I'd get sick, hurt, overtrained and worn out, which will in turn cause me to overeat and get fat while recovering.
Unfortunately, the list doesn't end there. There's always one that's beyond my reach:
11) Chose your parents wisely.
Ugh, the list guy is mocking me! I can try to do everything right, but unless I have the proper genetic endowment, I will still be eating the dust of someone who doesn't train as hard as me but somehow inherited a lion's share of his gazelle-chasing ancestors' running genes. As for my share, my mother has been complaining that her feet hurt most of her life, and my father used to be the president of a jogging club...not "running" club, but JOGGING club, and the emphasis was on club and not on jogging. I have short legs. I guess there are some "choices" that aren't for me to make.
In contrast, it seems much easier to become a Christian. In Acts 2, the apostle Peter gave the first evangelistic sermon in history, and when the people were "cut to the heart" and asked what they needed to do, the answer was quite straightforward:
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39)
About three thousand people became Christians that day.
Later, when the jailer in Phillipi asked Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved, the answer was simply:
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." (Acts 16:31)
Unfortunately, innumerable millions of people have heard these "quick and easy" tips to receive the assurance of salvation, but the words failed to move them. There is yet one more essential ingredient that Jesus revealed during his famous conversation with Nicodemus:
In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3)
Jesus, of course, was speaking of a spiritual, not physical rebirth. The problem with being born is that you can't decide whether you will be born, when you want to be born, or where you are going to be born. It is completely out of our control. It is the work of the Holy Spirit, without which the words of the Gospel has no effect. Our decision to believe in Jesus is possible only after God regenerates us spiritually.
I am eternally grateful that I was "born again". Too bad my legs are still short.
In contrast, it seems much easier to become a Christian. In Acts 2, the apostle Peter gave the first evangelistic sermon in history, and when the people were "cut to the heart" and asked what they needed to do, the answer was quite straightforward:
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39)
About three thousand people became Christians that day.
Later, when the jailer in Phillipi asked Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved, the answer was simply:
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." (Acts 16:31)
Unfortunately, innumerable millions of people have heard these "quick and easy" tips to receive the assurance of salvation, but the words failed to move them. There is yet one more essential ingredient that Jesus revealed during his famous conversation with Nicodemus:
In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3)
Jesus, of course, was speaking of a spiritual, not physical rebirth. The problem with being born is that you can't decide whether you will be born, when you want to be born, or where you are going to be born. It is completely out of our control. It is the work of the Holy Spirit, without which the words of the Gospel has no effect. Our decision to believe in Jesus is possible only after God regenerates us spiritually.
I am eternally grateful that I was "born again". Too bad my legs are still short.
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