effort. sacrifice. payoff.

as i bent down to shave my right leg this morning in the shower i had an amazing thing happen. i felt and saw my calf muscle for the first time! i have been running and spinning, a lot, lately. i teach spin classes every week, was teaching 4times a week this summer, and i am training for my second 1/2 marathon in december. so, i am working extra hard, not missing a day, hurting when i run, sometimes crying, all that bad stuff that comes along with it. BUT. today was one of those glimpses of how all my effort and sacrifice is paying off. i physically saw the return on my investment. it hit me, it is worth it. i still have a long way to go, but it fires me up even more now, especially after my kartwheel in the shower.

made me think. it is no different than fulfulling the great commission. jesus calls us to this, we are his disciples, no different than the 12.

Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

i can imagine that the disciples thought to themselves "do what? does he realize how hard this is going to be? how long this will take? is he crazy?" i say the same thing to Joey Poole when we are running sometimes too.

but the beauty is that Jesus GAVE us authority to do this. he didn't ask us if we wanted to, or if we would pray about it, or that we had an option. read this again....

Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus came. Jesus said. Jesus gave. Jesus commanded. Jesus was with.

i mean, as surely as i saw the results of all the hard work i have been putting into my running this morning, even more so do i see the results of all the effort and sacrifice i put into the command given to us. i see it. i know it. it is worth it. every single bit of it.