When you hear the word “worship,” do you imagine singing at a
church service? Sure, this is one way to worship, but we have the
opportunity to worship God in everything we do and everything we are.
As runners, we can worship God through our running. What does that
look like though?
Just like God gave someone a beautiful voice to sing in church, God
gave you an incredible talent to run. As believers, we are to use the
gifts God has given us to reach all corners of his kingdom and make
the most of what we have been given. First, we must see that our
ability is from God alone and without him we have nothing.
Running as worship means completely removing yourself from the
task at hand and offering yourself to God. Removing yourself from
running sounds impossible. While it is difficult, it is not impossible.
Live in mindfulness of the gift of God’s freedom and the sacrifice of
his Son. If someone sang in front of the church always thinking of
themselves and their talent, there would be a disconnect in worship.
We have a role of connection to play between believers, non-believers
and everyone in between when we run with our eyes fixed on Jesus
Christ and the ultimate goal of his message.
God, I praise you for the ability to run. Forgive me for taking advantage of this gift
you have given me. I recognize that you have given me this ability for a specific
reason and I refuse to let it go to waste. As I learn what it means to worship in my
running, help me to seek and find you in all that I do for my life should be worship.
While it is hard to get through my head sometimes, I thank you for being the
sovereign God of all.
Collegiate runner Ryan Gehman demonstrating a very visual illustration of running as worship. Fixing your heart and mind on Jesus. Altitude Project (http://altitudeproject.com/) in Mammoth Lakes, California. Summer 2015.