Publicly Acknowledge Him

“‘I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.” Luke 12:8 NIV

In a runner spotlight published by Runner's World Tuesday, Katrina Johnson (who has been running for 30 years) boldly shared one of the reasons she continues the sport. Today, I run for my time to get away from everything else that is going on in the world and in my life. Running is my time of stress relief, and it allows me to be outside enjoying nature. Most importantly, though, the driving force behind my motivation to run is to connect with God and pray for the people I love and care about who are battling cancer or are sick. My faith is very important to me and strongly connected to my running. I run for those who can’t, and I dedicate my runs to those who need my prayers and support. I lost my mother to ovarian cancer 12 years ago, which started my journey of running for others. Unfortunately, I have friends and family who are battling cancer, and I tell them that the long runs or even small races I do are in honor of them. Do you just love that or what?

And you know, in a world where it seems a growing majority of people are keeping their faith private, it’s refreshing to see someone publicly acknowledging before others that Jesus is the most important thing in their lives. This is something that not only has the power to instill that same courage into those who are too afraid to speak up but comes with the reward of likewise being acknowledged by the Son of Man. Can you think of any reward better than that?

So be bold about your faith my friend. Seize every opportunity to acknowledge Christ as your Savior and the One who deserves all the glory. You’ll reap rewards both here and in the hereafter for doing so. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for acknowledging all that acknowledge You. This is such an awesome reward! Help us to put You first in all that we do and to know you so intimately that declaring Your existence to be true comes naturally to us and inspires the lost to seek the One that inspires this boldness. It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!