The Race

One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Hebrews 12. This chapter has provided me with encouragement in times of trial and weakness. Hebrews 12 has sustained me with the assurance that God is preparing a people for a destination that far surpasses anything we experience on this fallen earth.

As I reflect specifically on Hebrews 12:1-4, I offer these observations. The verses say:

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

4 In your struggle against sin, you have not resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Verse 1: We have a race to run. The Christian life is never meant to be one of ease and comfort. It has been designed by God to be one of endurance, struggle and effort. No great athlete becomes great by accident. It takes years of preparation.

We also have a crowd watching and cheering us on in this race. Perhaps those who have died in faith now pray and root for the current participants in this race. Hebrews 12:1 would seem to indicate that this is true. In times of temptation, I have often visualized a godly relative who has gone on to be with Christ watching my life. Sin loses its appeal in the face of a great cloud of witnesses.

We must throw off everything that hinders this race. I have written about this ad nauseam in other blogs. Money, possessions, worldliness, sex, power, pride, etc... are all thorns that seek to uproot faith. We must guard our heart against them. We would be hard pressed to run a race if we had a fifty pound weighted vest attached to our body. Likewise, it is difficult to run the Christian race when we allow inward or outward temptations to distract us.

Verse 2: We have a goal to strive towards. We have an example to follow. Running a race would be pointless without a finish line. Christ is the object of our faith. He is the author of our faith in that He created us. He is the perfecter of our faith in that He was the only runner to run the perfect race. He lived a sinless life so that He would satisfy the justice requirements of a holy God.

Jesus kept His eyes focused on the joy of eternal reward for obedience. He endured the humiliation of the cross. He despised the shame that it brought. But He endured in order that we may be participants in the glory of God- experiencing His presence in a renewed body on a renewed earth. Our Savior awaits the completion of our race. He is at the throne of God ready to judge the runners of this race.

Verse 3: Do we get tired of doing good? Consider Him. Do we feel that we are alone in this world resisting greed or lust? Consider Him. Do we feel that life is unfair because we have to deal with ____? Consider Him.

Christ- the only One who ever lived righteous- endured opposition from sinful men and women so that we might not grow weary or lose heart. What a comfort it is to know that we are not alone in trials. We have a Savior that has experienced all of the weariness, despair and loneliness that we sometimes feel. We must experience many trials and hardships to enter the kingdom of God- Acts 14:22.

Verse 4: Resisting sin is hard. But remember that most of us are not shedding blood to do it. Christ did. He suffered a horrendous death to purchase us. His blood was costly. We have a model of self denial to follow.

We will receive no discharge from Christ until we die. Our struggle against the world, our flesh and Satan are never over. Our retirement is Heaven. Until the day that we breathe our last breath, we run. Holiness is the objective of every Christian- to be changed inwardly and outwardly by the Spirit of Christ.

I pray for perseverance so that we might run the race well.

For His Glory,

Ashley Hodge