Breakfast of Champions

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness will go before you,

and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

– Isaiah 58:8

Less than 1% of the global population will ever finish a marathon — an official long-distance road race of roughly 26.2 miles. Legend credits the ancient Greek messenger Pheidippides as the original marathon runner. In 490 BC, he ran about 25 miles from Marathon to Athens to deliver the news about the Athenian army’s victory over Persian invaders. Pheidippides then collapsed and died from sheer exhaustion.

Fast-forward to the 21st century, and many marathoners follow special diets to optimize their body’s performance for the long run. In her Runner's World article The Healthy Runner's Diet, Dr. Liz Applegate recommends a regimen of seeds, fruits and vegetables, plant foods with their skins intact, milk and milk products, foods originating from cold water (like fish and other seafood), plus meat, poultry, and eggs from free-range or grass-fed animals. The key takeaway is that eating the right foods can mean the difference between finishing the race in record time — or dropping out with miles still to go.

A similar principle applies to Christ-followers. After all, our spiritual race isn't a jog or even a sprint. Instead, it's a life-long marathon. And it's to that end that Believers strive for lives exhibiting the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. What’s more, we’re called to live out our faith by demonstrating justice, generosity, and compassion for the vulnerable. Unfortunately, expressions of jealousy, bitterness, and frustration can result when we skip the right spiritual foods for going the distance.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead, a smart way to start our race is with ongoing prayer … as well as a continual awareness that we can't make it without the Spirit living within us. Second, let's filter our thinking. Do the movies we watch, the websites we visit, and the friends we make feed our spirit — or our sinful nature? And finally, we must die to ourselves each day by constantly avoiding the traps and obstacles that can run us off course. 

In 2 Timothy, the apostle Paul confirms that his spiritual diet and rigorous training paid off along his own journey of faith:

"I have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith. At last the champion's wreath that is awarded for righteousness is waiting for me. The Lord, who is the righteous judge, is going to give it to me on that day. He's giving it not only to me but also to all those who have set their heart on waiting for his appearance."

Whether you're a brand-new Christ-follower or you've been a Believer for years, be sure to start your day with the Breakfast of Champions: the powerful spiritual diet that will help take you across the finish line of faith. Because as the saying goes, you are what you eat.