Everything worth doing, is worth doing well. And anything we want to do well, requires preparation. Apostle Paul in the Bible compared our Christian life to a race. So like the way an athlete has to prepare for a race, we also need to prepare for the marathon race we need to run throughout our lives. This takes time and a lot of commitment to achieve. There are also plenty sacrifices to make so that one can be fit enough to run till the end of the race. This means we need shake off some of our desires replace them with training exercises like prayers, fasting, studying and meditating the word of God and having regular fellowship with God, so that we may become stronger and fitter to run the race.
The pace of a person running on his own is, always faster than that of a person carrying something additional to his own weight. In a marathon race, that extra weight is something you don't need. It not only slow you down, but also makes you use extra strength to keep on going and as a result of this, it brings that point of tiring out closer than it usually is. This also apply to us. That extra weight which is usually the lust of the flesh and sin, tend to slow us down in the race. They are things that we should avoid as much as we can if we want to get to the finish as fast as possible. Endurance is the most efficient tool that a racer can possess. It is a thing of advantage that will keep you going even against all odds. It is rewarding to have endurance as it can get you to the finish line where the true reward for running such a long race awaits those who completes it. Endurance is not an easy thing to possess, but if we have genuine love for God in us, it becomes easier for us as motivates us to practice endurance. Then we should be focused and endure with faith