Cross Training

Hateful: #5 – Speed Work

“There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:

haughty eyes,

a lying tongue,

hands that shed innocent blood,

a heart that devises wicked schemes,

feet that are quick to rush into evil,

a false witness who pours out lies

and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.” Proverbs 6:16-19 NIV

It’s hard to imagine God hating anything. Yet, here it is: God’s Top 7 Hate List. Today, we tackle number five.

#5: Feet that are quick to rush into evil.

I’m a runner and while I’m not always training for a specific race, I am always training. My weekly running workouts include speed work. In speed work, you practice running fast. When I run a speed workout, I don’t do it on the local middle school cross country path, which consists of running the fence line around a large open field. That path presents too many opportunities to sprain an ankle in some hidden hole. I run on the track instead. I know every divot or rough spot on the track and can avoid the uneven spaces. Because I know the track well, I can go full speed without fear of injury. Check out these verses from Jeremiah as well as our number five hate list item today:

“This is what the LORD says about this people: “They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.”     Jeremiah 14:10 NIV

“…feet that are quick to rush into evil,” Proverbs 6:18b NIV

The wandering feet in Jeremiah and the quick feet in Proverbs bring pictures to my mind of someone who is impulsive and lacks self-control. Contrast those feet with these in Psalm 119:101 NIV:

“ I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word.”

This verse speaks of self-control and a runner who has a purpose and a plan to what they are doing. Impulsive choices and wandering from God’s best can be like the cross country course—opportunities for stumbling, twisting an ankle, or worse. You can run it, but it’s not without risk.

Where are your feet taking you? Are you quick to go off road or like Psalm 119:32, do you say “ I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free?” Stop and think about where you’re going.

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