We Need To Pace Ourselves

1 Timothy Chapter 4 and verse 16 says:
“Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you.”
People are watching you and me to see how we are handling this ongoing lockdown and it reminds me very clearly of a bus-driver.
Now, I am talking about probably one of the greatest marathon races in the world, The Comrades Marathon which runs from Pietermaritzburg to Durban the one year, and the next year from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.
Now what you do is, especially if you are a new runner, you get onto a bus – now that is not a literal bus. You get into a group of people that are hoping to run the race in a given time, maybe 9 hours, 10 hours, 11 hours, or even 12 hours.
You get alongside a seasoned runner.
He normally has a reed that he puts behind his back with a little flag on it so you don’t lose him in the crowd of tens of thousands of people. This man has run The Comrades many, many times. He knows exactly what to do.
And then you take off with him and you run. You don’t run fast. You run at his pace. He lets all the front-runners get away and then he starts to time himself. He is a seasoned runner.
We need to be like that my dear friend.
We need to continue in the doctrine.
We need to be steadfast in the Word of God and we need to pray and we need to pace ourselves.


Now this bus driver, when he sees his group are getting tired, he starts to sing a song, and he gets them all singing a song together, and then when he sees a hill coming up in the front, he tells them to stop running and start walking.
Then they come up to a table where there is water and oranges and food. He tells them to stop and to eat and they want to get going but he says, “No, let’s rest. We will get there in time.”
They see all the others, their friends, running passed at a tremendous rate and they think that they are going to be left behind.
He says, “Don’t worry!”
He says, “We will catch them up on the next hill.”
And so he does.
He keeps ongoing. Then he keeps the blood going. He tells you to start winding your arms like windmills. He tells you to start rubbing your legs and he says, “Keep on going”.
Then when he sees you starting to get tired again, he says, “It is time to walk.”
And you keep on going and eventually, you find the finish line in front of you.
Let us be good examples to those who are struggling at this time. Encourage them to keep on keeping on because Jesus will never leave us and He will never forsake us. Hebrews 13:5.