Get those steps

Recently I was out for my afternoon run and about 1/5 of the way into it, I realized I had left my fitbit in the car. Steps were not getting recorded. My first reaction was to quit running, since my steps "didn't count."

I caught myself with that thought and had another, better thought, "why am I running?" - to record steps for others to see? to win a challenge? Maybe it is to improve my condition! That's it. So I continued running, no record of it, though.

This experience reminded me of a Scripture that reminds me of what is true. Paul says he "presses on toward the goal unto the prize." What's the prize? He says it is his calling, playing out what God had put in him. He says earlier that with awe and respect, exercise out what God has done for us in our salvation.

Exercise, pursuing the prize is not about counting the steps so we and others can keep track of our challenges. It is about he exercise. It is about working out what is in us. It is about improving our condition, not for our glory but His pleasure.