Song - Run Cheetah Run
- Bible Brian
- 6 hours ago
- 8 min read
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Across the plains where the wild winds blow,
carry a truth the world needs to know.
Beautiful feet1 on the path you’ve begun,
Racing the dawn with the rising Sun.
A fisher of men2, a speedy soul hunter,
we don’t need stalkers, we need runners!
[Bridge]
Run cheetah, run cheetah, run run run
[Chorus]
Run cheetah run,
Speed without violence,
Beautiful feet,
cut through the silence!
The news you should know,
the Kingdom has come3,
sin is defeated,
by the risen Son!
Run cheetah, run,
trust in His guidance!
Run with those beautiful feet!
[Verse 2]
Town after town as the road unwinds,
Some hearts awaken, some close their minds.
Give them the Gospel and hope they will trust,
but if they won't listen, leave them in the dust4.
No wrath and no scorn in the trail you’ve crossed5,
just witness behind where the message was lost6.
[Bridge]
Run cheetah, run cheetah, run run run
[Chorus]
Run cheetah run,
Speed without violence,
Beautiful feet,
cut through the silence!
The news you should know,
the Kingdom has come,
sin is defeated,
by the risen Son!
Run cheetah, run,
trust in His guidance!
Run with those beautiful feet!
[Verse 3]
The plains are not empty, the shadows have teeth,
A lion is stalking the runners beneath7.
The battle is not fought with teeth or with claws,
Our weapons aren't carnal8, they're hard to ignore.
So carry your message, in rain or in sun,
do not delay, with endurance you run9.
[Bridge]
Run cheetah, run cheetah, run run run
[Chorus]
Run cheetah run,
Speed without violence,
Beautiful feet,
cut through the silence!
The news you should know,
the Kingdom has come,
sin is defeated,
by the risen Son!
Run cheetah, run,
trust in His guidance!
Run with those beautiful feet!
[Verse 4]
Look to the dust on the plains behind,
More runners rising10, the good news in mind.
The voice that you carried was never your own11,
The seed keeps on spreading where He wants it sown12.
The field grows wide beneath the sun13,
The message outruns us, to save everyone.
[Bridge]
Run cheetah, run cheetah, run run run
[Chorus]
Run cheetah run,
Speed without violence,
Beautiful feet,
cut through the silence!
The news you should know,
the Kingdom has come,
sin is defeated,
by the risen Son!
Run cheetah, run,
trust in His guidance!
Run with those beautiful feet!
(Run Cheetah, run cheetah, run run run)
Background
Biblically speaking, animals are metaphorically significant, carrying a myriad of lessons. Some are negative, such as when Proverbs 26:11 tells us "As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly." Others, we are told to imitate a key attribute. Jesus, for example, tells us "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves." (Matthew 10:16). All three animals have both positive and negative attributes. A sheep is weak, stupid, and vulnerable, but it trusts in its shepherd (with our Good Shepherd, of course, being Jesus). A serpent, as a predatory beast, is commonly associated with evil, but it cannot be faulted on its wisdom, and so we are told to be "wise as serpents". Doves are a universal symbol of peace, with the Holy Spirit even choosing its form when manifesting at Christ's baptism.
The Cheetah is absent from Scripture in every way, but I chose it as the central theme of this song due to its association with speed. The song revolves primarily around 6 Bible verses. The first two are Romans 10:15, which itself refers back to Isaiah 52:7. Both of these describe the beauty of the feet of a messenger carrying good news. That good news, of course, is the Gospel. The proclamation of salvation from our sins by our reigning God, who gives grace to us through faith in His Risen Son.
The other four verses are similarly linked together. In Matthew 10:14, Mark 6:11, and Luke 9:5, Jesus gives His disciples an instruction: If a town or city will not hear the disciples, they are to leave peacefully, kicking the dust from their feet as testimony against them. Connecting to this, in Acts 13:51, we see this command being carried out against Antioch.
When we combine these 6 verses, we get an impression of urgency. The Gospel isn't something we can afford to leave sunning itself on the beach all day, we need to get it out there, and we need to do it fast. The cheetah, as the fastest extant land creature, is commonly associated with speed. It is swift, it is agile, it is basically the ideal choice as a metaphor for quickly disseminating a message.
With that in mind, the first verse begins in the ideal setting for a cheetah: The open plains. This is its natural habitat, and "coincidentally", this is exactly where God finds us. Wherever we are when we receive salvation, that is where our Evangelistic journey begins.
The first verse also deals with what could be a "flaw" in my metaphor. Obviously, no metaphor is perfect. The idea of a metaphor is to compare a thing to another thing that is not the original thing. Therefore, every metaphor will result in differences. But a flaw in this particular metaphor is that Cheetahs are predators. They don't run for the fun of it, they run to kill. For this, I decided to weave in the famous "fishers of men" verses (Matthew 4:19, Mark 1:17). The concept of "fishers of men" isn't that we're supposed to kill the "fish", but that we intend to save them. Thus, we are "speedy soul hunters".
The chorus ties all of this together, with the "speed without violence" line in particular being designed to point out an important feature of our faith. Many religions are spread by the sword, and that actually does include false versions of Christianity. This is so well known that a common argument against "religion" is that it causes wars. This line, therefore, doesn't deny that the cheetah is a predator, but that Christians are. We don't fight for our Kingdom, which is not of this world, on the basis of carnal weapons.
Rather, as verse 2 goes on to describe, when our message is rejected, we move on, leaving those who rejected it in the dust of their own destruction. Of course, this doesn't perfectly translate into our own lives. If you're just a normal Christian, the chances are you're going to be sitting in the same general areas for extended periods. So naturally, you might have friends you work on for years. Give them the Gospel regularly, wherever possible, and it's entirely plausible that one day, something might change. They might come to know the Lord through your persistence, and that is a beautiful thing. That's where wisdom comes in: Sometimes it's worth it to stick around, sometimes it's better to cut the line and move on. But it is never acceptable to attempt to force a conversion.
Which ties quite nicely into verse 3, "The plains are not empty". This is a rather brilliant part of the analogy, because cheetahs genuinely are persecuted by larger predators. While by no means defenceless, cheetahs are the weakest predators in their region, regularly being chased off their kills by hyenas, leopards, and... lions. Which is the exact predator the Bible compares the devil to. He is a "roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."
For this, he uses both spiritual and carnal weapons. When false religions enforce themselves by the sword, that's him doing his thing. He seeks to kill Christians so we can't spread the Gospel anymore, he seeks to silence Christians so we're too afraid to worship in public, he seeks to dissuade his own victims from even considering our faith, and so on and so forth. But as Paul says, "Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled." (2 Corinthians 10:1-6).
This is what I meant by "the battle is not fought with teeth or with claws". We, as Christians, live by a philosophy that "the pen is mightier than the sword." This doesn't make us Pacifists, but it does mean we aren't aggressive. We intend to save our enemies, as we ourselves were saved when we were God's enemies.
The end of verse 3 falls slightly short if we're using the cheetah as our metaphor. What cheetahs have in speed, they lack in endurance. They are built for burst sprinting, but they are quickly exhausted. Even here, however, the metaphor works when we recognise our own weakness. None of this is in our own hands. The Gospel is God's, and while we do our part in the work He has set out for us, we can do nothing without Him. Thus, our very endurance comes from Him.
Which ties in quite nicely to verse 4, which expands to the bigger picture. It basically reiterates what I just said, but it also points out that no matter what, we are just one small piece of a much grander scheme. Long before us, our brethren were running this same race, passing the torch for us, which we will in turn pass to the next generation of Christians. This beautiful Gospel has been spreading for 2,000 years, and if the Lord tarries, it will spread for many more, in order to achieve His goal, as Peter says: "But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:8-9).
This thought, I believe, is sobering. While it significantly diminishes our own individual roles to a degree that should hopefully eradicate anything resembling pride, it also highlights the role we do have. It encourages us to run with diligence and endurance, but reminds us who we're really serving. We're serving the God who gives the increase, and to paraphrase what Mordecai said to Esther, "if you will not deliver His Gospel, it will get there another way". In Him, we cannot fail, and if we fail Him, He still will not fail. His word will achieve the purpose for which He sent it out. We just need to be grateful for every time He chooses us as the vessels for that achievement. So... run cheetah, run. Let's get the good news where He wants it to go.
Scripture references
Romans 10:15
Matthew 4:19
Mark 1:15
Matthew 10:14
2 Timothy 2:24-25
Mark 6:11
1 Peter 5:8
2 Corinthians 10:4
Hebrews 12:1
2 Timothy 2:2
1 Corinthians 4:1-2
Mark 4:14
Luke 10:2
AI usage
This song was produced using Mozart AI.
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