Running People Off

I don’t run. The only way I’d ever run is if a monster were chasing me, and it must be a pretty big monster. If I ever had to run a marathon, I’d die. But it turns out just having a marathon run might just do it.

According to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, more people die of heart attacks and cardiac arrest when they fall ill during marathons. Not the runners, the people near the race. The problem is the change in traffic patterns when streets are closed due to the race. Ambulance ride takes on average 4 minutes longer. People driving to the hospital get delayed. The result is that the 30-day death rate from heart attacks and cardiac arrest jumped 15% for people who fall ill on marathon days.

We often think about our lives in terms of what is good for us and what we want. Yet we must be careful because our actions do influence and have an effect on others. In 1^st Corinthians 8, we see Paul make this point in the context of diet. Here, some were eating meat that at one time had been sacrificed to idols. For them, it was a non-issue since the idol was really anything to them. But to others, they saw it as defiled. For Paul, what mattered most was not doing something that might cause your brother to stumble (vs. 13).

We don’t live in a bubble. Your words, actions, and attitude can influence others both positively and negatively. That's why we can just do what is good for us; we must consider what is good for all. You might be running your race but tripping up others in the process.

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Ecclesiastes 12:10

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