The Apostle Paul compares the believer to a runner, and the Christian life to a race, in a few different places in his epistles. Well, this is a helpful illustration. But what kind of race does the be- liever run? We know, for example, that a person can run both short distance sprints, and long-dis- tance marathons. A sprint requires short bursts of energy and power, but the physical exertion is over quickly. By contrast, a marathon involves sustained endurance over a long duration. The runner must continue to press forward mile after mile after mile, on various terrain, up and down steep hills and across flat stretches, until at long last, he crosses the finish line.