Are we willing?

Hebrews 12:4 -- In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
These shoes belong to a guy named Brian Sell. He ran in the marathon at the Olympics. These shoes were specially designed for him; he likes to run without socks when he does a marathon. This picture was taken after that race. He said that he had never run a race in those conditions (super hot, humid) and that he would recommend that you DO wear socks if you are racing in tropical conditions and dumping water on yourself throughout the time you are running. If not, plan on bleeding. He finished the race, which is amazing in itself; he did it with raw bloody feet. Amazing.

The verse from Hebrews has always sat with me; set in context of teaching on discipline, the verse points out that we ought to be struggling with the things in our lives that pull us away from Jesus. That struggle is not easy, in fact, it stinks a lot of the time. It is hard work. Here it encourages us to be willing to shed blood (our own!) in efforts to resist our temptations. I do not know about you, but I give up way too easily. The battle is too hard...it is taking too long to put this to rest...I am uncomfortable in the conflict and want to be done with it...I wonder if I am willing for the sake of my faith to resist to the point of shedding blood? I am not willing to kneel by the bed because my knees get a little achy...

Next time you find yourself in a battle surrounding sin and faith, consider Brian and his willingness to bleed a little to complete something that was personally amazing. Consider bleeding a little to accomplish something that has eternal significance.