{"id":3097,"date":"2024-02-19T03:03:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T03:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/?p=3097"},"modified":"2024-02-19T02:07:08","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T02:07:08","slug":"run-the-race-endurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/run-the-race-endurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Run The Race: Endurance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday, February 19<\/strong><\/p>\n

Run The Race: Endurance<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/em>Hebrews 12:1<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Christian journey is often compared to a race and in this race, success is not determined by how fast one starts, but rather by how you finish. The Book of Hebrews was written to a group of confessing Christians who were tempted to ditch their faith in Jesus due to persecution and return to the relatively safe haven of traditional Judaism. So, throughout the book, the author proclaims the superiority of Jesus, in His Person and Work. Chapter 11, the one preceding this one, comprises \u201cThe Hall of Faith\u201d of those who walked with God by faith through various trials. It is in that context, then, that the author encourages all of us who are following Jesus. Hebrews 12:1 says \u2018Therefore, 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.<\/em>\u2019 Our race is not a short sprint. It\u2019s a long-distance race that requires commitment, stamina and perseverance.<\/p>\n

\u2018Let us run with endurance\u2019. To endure means to persevere. In other words, there is no \u201cshort cut\u201d; no \u201csprint\u201d to the Christian life. You have to spend time and keep at it for a length of time. That means:<\/p>\n

\u2014 getting up and having your quiet time in the morning when you don\u2019t feel like it.<\/p>\n

\u2014 it means keeping at the ministry God has given you, even when you don\u2019t see it bearing fruit.<\/p>\n

\u2014 it means continuing to follow The Lord, even when people have hurt you, or oppose you. You don\u2019t let them discourage you and make you stop. You just keep on \u2014 sometimes with \u201cbaby steps\u201d if necessary, to keep on going.<\/p>\n

This is a good word – run with endurance. It\u2019s the same word used by Jesus when He endured the cross (1 Peter 2:21). Nothing turned Him back \u2013 He never lost sight of the goal. We run in the steps of Jesus. It will involve opposition and even suffering.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The race isn\u2019t run for applause or reward, but for Christ alone. Love for Him keeps us in the race.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday, February 19 Run The Race: Endurance 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3097"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3100,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3097\/revisions\/3100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}