Hebrews 12:1-3
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us through off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us. 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. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart"
This was the text used in a sermon that was the first of the things I heard on this topic. It came from a guest speaker in a church that I was visiting and had never been to before.
Some times I settle in and just expect my life to be easy and then get annoyed when challenges come my way. We know that Christianity is difficult but when we gave our lives to Christ we signed up for the marathon of life, its supposed to be hard, its supposed to be difficult and its supposed to be tiring! But God calls us to persevere to carry on through every rain and every storm that threatens to stop us running all together, this passage challenges us to throw off all those outer layers that have become water logged and are slowing us down (Colossians 3 helps us work out how to throw off the soggy clothes and put on the Lycra!)
I feel like I am so easily entangled by sin and often the same sins, that sometimes it can be totally debilitating and stop me running all together, like I'm running through a swamp or something. It tempts us to give in and allow it to take over because it would be easier than battling through the obstacle, we can't run effectively with a big rucksack of our sinful behaviours on our backs that we can't get rid of.
We need to fix our eyes on the immovable person of Jesus who is waiting for us on the other side, He already knows how our race will finish but He's there cheering us on (Isaiah 40:29-31) and praying for us, He is our forerunner, our pace setter, He has already been there and run the race ahead of us. It is also part of our job to help along our fellow runners, to spur them on, to encourage them, to build them up and work along side them.
My second reminder of this was at the holiday club at my church, it was so fun to see young kids learning memory verses and singing songs that God used to remind me of my race. One of the memory verses that the children learnt was 1 Corinthians 9:25 "Everyone who competes in the games goes in to strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever!". Right now all over the world athletes are in strict training getting ready for the Olympics, they are dedicated and diligent, committed and passionate. Even though its hard to train hard enough to become good enough to compete in the Olympics, they carry on training because they are passionate in their goal of getting that medal. This was such a huge challenge to me!! we should be becoming more and more dedicated, diligent, committed and passionate about becoming more Christlike and doing everything to glorify God! I'm really glad that God has given me people in my life that I can describe using these words to be my example.
I am praying that I will get better at running and will finish my race well. I am praying that even through the slug and battle of life and work I will keep running well, keep throwing of those things that are hindering me and that whilst climbing over the obstacles I will be able to do what I can do glorify God in my race.
I love this song! and reminds me of what I need to do (sorry about the Spanish subtitles)
