Source: The Power to Change by Craig Groeschel

Imagine there is a 5k race about to begin. A guy is at the starting line, observing others stretching, drinking water in preparation to start the race. Another one comes up and ask the guy (let’s call him Tony) what he did to prepare for the race.

“Oh, I didn’t do nothing. I thought I would just try to run the race and see what happens.”

The other looks at Tony in disbelief. “You are going to try?” was the question. Before long the gun goes off, and Tony tries really hard to run. He hadn’t run in years, but he tries. Needless to say, Tony doesn’t last for long. Volunteers rush to his aid after he falls off to the side of the road, vomiting and in much pain.

He tried, but he had not been in training. If he was, Tony would have prepared his body by eating the right food, running many miles a day for a few months, stretching and whatever he needed to do to get ready for the big race. He would have gotten his body trained to hit the pavement and run with the others. He had a goal in mind, but he had to subjected his body to a rigorous season of training to get in shape. Instead, he tried to run hoped for the best.

Trying does not involve much. You try to lose weight, but continue to eat the same fast food, snacks and soda that got you overweight in the first place, all the while trying to reach a goal that is not going to come into fruition. You try to get out of debt but continue to catch those sales and use your credit cards that are close to being maxed out, making the minimum payments that will take decades to bring the balance to zero. You ask God to help you, but at the same time, He says he is willing, and is waiting on you to evoke change in your deep-rooted habits that need changing.

Lately I have been drawn to watching interviews with athletes. They have been in their sport for years, and it is habitual for them to get up early in the morning and train. Even as they are being interviewed, they are stretching, taking jump shots or swinging a bat, all in preparation for playing their sport. For those who endure the intense training for years, a time will come when the training pays off, and you see a tennis player like Chris Eubanks who was ranked at least 119th in the world before the Wimbledon tournament, defeat #5 ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals. His ranking soared to #31 in the world. And he didn’t try; he trained. And that training paid off.

This is what Paul had to say on the subject of training:

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 1 Corinthians 9:25

• Define your goal – write it down

• Change your habits
• Find out all you can about how to achieve it
• Go after it and train!