Run The Race: Finish It

Friday, February 23

Run The Race: Finish It

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1

What rich inspiration we found this week as we read Hebrews 12. The brushstrokes of the first two verses paint a very clear picture in which we see ourselves as athletes, chosen to run the most important of all races, the race of the Christian life. It’s not a short sprint, but a marathon, a race of endurance with important instructions on how to run it.

First, we’re encouraged to run with endurance and don’t give up, implying this isn’t a race where we won’t encounter pain and strife. Then we are taught that by fixing our eyes on Jesus we can finish the race. If we “fix our eyes on Jesus”, and see the struggles in the light of who He is and what He has done for us, and with Him as our focus, bring the hard and painful realities to Him and receive His forgiveness and healing, then we will “not grow weary and lose heart” (v.3). Instead we’ll experience the real hope, joy and freedom of the life Jesus won for us, and we can look forward to being able to say, like Paul, “I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Then we were encouraged to think about those who’ve gone before us, who have proved God’s absolute faithfulness. That’s such valuable advice, especially for times when the going gets tough. I love reading. At a time when I was facing really hard things in my life, I’d feel like it was just too hard to keep going, or too long, or I was too weary, and I’d come across a pearl of inspiration from the many books I’ve come across as I read.

Lastly, as athletes running the race, we’re instructed to strip off things we’re carrying that weigh us down, and sin that can easily trip us up. These can be things we’ve brought with us from our past, things like false guilt, negativity, passivity, self pity … things we don’t need to carry anymore, and if we do, will hinder us, holding us back in bondage as victims to past experiences, slaves to cruel masters of things like fear, guilt and shame … and living as orphans instead of sons and daughters.

Prayer for today:  Dear Lord, please forgive me for the times when I’ve ignored your instructions for running the race of my life. Today I choose to fix my eyes on You, not on the problems, yet not deny my struggles either, but bring them to you. For you have the answer. You are the answer. Thank you that you have given me your Holy Spirit and I don’t have to run this race alone, but it is by your grace and enabling power. Amen.