My son decided on the spur of the moment to do the Ironman 70.3 in Mossel Bay. Without practising too much, he took part and did very well, much better than expected. 

Now he was well and truly bitten by the bug and decided to start training for the Ironman 140.6. This involves swimming 3.9 km, cycling 180.2 km, and running a full marathon of 42.2 km. One after the other, on one day, and usually against the coastal winds. 

For this one must train for sure, and months in advance he gets a coach who tells him exactly what distances he must cover per day. Nowadays with the smartwatches, the coach knows exactly what he’s doing and not doing and will soon comment if he is not on track. 

It’s a whole new lifestyle that he must learn. If he wants to stand on the podium, he can’t live on chips and Coke like he normally did. When he asked the coach which day in the week would be his day off, the coach said that he didn’t believe in taking days off.  

When we become children of God, we must also learn a new lifestyle. We also have a coach here, namely Peter. My son’s coach is in the top 5 of the Ironman and knows what he’s talking about when he trains my son. Likewise, Petrus is also very qualified to help us. That’s why we can listen to him. 

5So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given … Don’t lie down on the couch with a packet of chips in your hand. It’s not going to get you anywhere. No, get up and start exercising. 

The first suggestion is: … complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. 

Our nature suffered a severe blow with the fall. Our sinful nature is the inwardness of man. And when people just want to take and appropriate everything for themselves, it is not necessarily the right thing to do. 

That’s our default. We know that. Therefore, we must consciously try to get out of the rut of our old life. Because when we’re tired and something happens, we revert to our default. Then we only think and do things to feed the self, which is wrong and selfish. 

It is very hard work to always do the right thing, because it doesn’t come naturally. Sometimes we don’t even know we’re not doing the right thing, because it’s so naturally part of our old selves. 

It is not always easy for my son to get on his bike when it’s raining. It’s even more difficult to put on his running shoes and go out on the road when the Boland sun burns mercilessly. But there’s no time for slacking. 

We must also know that all the time, 24/7, we must go against our nature of doing wrong and always try to do good. We must look for places to make a difference and then do something about it. 

It’s hard work to fight like this to do good. We must listen to coach Peter and join the gym of life. Fortunately, we’re not doing it alone. The Holy Spirit is always there to help. Let’s be sensitive to His voice and do what’s right. 

Scripture
2 Peter 1:3-11

Reflection
Where are you doing the wrong thing?
Where are you doing the right thing?
Where do you still need to practice? 

Prayer
Father, thank you for not abandoning us, but helping us to walk the right path in life. Please help me through Your Spirit to always live right. Amen.