Pastor, missionary, new church-plant elder, Steve Krogh's musing is from his book, Topography. The essay "Got Thorns" was first published in 2007 and remains timely.

In the movie "Amazing Grace" (about William Wilberforce's lifelong quest to abolish slavery in the British Empire more than two hundred years ago), there is a great scene where Wilberforce, a member of parliament in his young twenties, and his good friend William Pitt, who became prime minister at the tender age of twenty-four, are enjoying some good-natured horseplay on a morning exercise run.

They have been at their responsibilities awhile, and they are no longer naive to the cost of public service and positions of responsibility.

Since they lived in the days prior to Nike footwear, they are running barefoot. As they finish their run and are walking home, one of them painfully steps on a thorn and says, "Funny, how when you are running, you don't feel the pain of the thorns." Then, referring to the significant tasks before them, he concludes: "Let's keep running!"

Life is the same way, isn't it? When we slow down, get tired, start to give up

. . . then we feel the thorns. Perhaps it is the thorn of discouragement. Or the thorn of doubt. Or the thorn of criticism. Or the thorn of fear. When we are running the race, for some reason, we can step on the thorns and keep going.

The writer to the Hebrews says, "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith." (Hebrews 12:2)

As we grow older, our pace will decline a bit. That is natural. Yet sometimes we lose our momentum a bit too soon. We slow down too much and aren't running as we should.

Is there an area in which you need to pick up the pace a bit? Have you slowed down when it comes to serving others with zeal? Spending time in the Word? Keeping up with a friend? Spending time with your spouse? Getting in shape? Keeping your commitments to the church body?

Sometimes when you feel the prick of the thorns, it's just an encouragement, to "Keep on running!"