“Therefore since we have are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses lets us throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles us and run with perseverance the race marked out for us”
Heb 12:1
Paul uses this analogy of running a race several times and he was referring to the Roman games of His day. When we give our lives to Christ, we all enter a race and its not a 100-yard dash it’s a marathon that lasts our whole life time. A marathon is a long way. I used to run marathons and believe me it’s a long way 42 km. Its never how you start or how flashy you look at the start it’s how you finish. Lately I have been looking back over my life and I haven’t been discouraged, that would be a to stronger of a word but it has been sobering to see so many of my friends who started out following Jesus who are now no longer in the race. They haven’t necessarily rejected Jesus but they have been taken out of the race that God had for them for many many reasons. They got tired. Their marriage fell apart. Fell into sin. Got offended. Just got taken out of the race that God had for them. Just given up. Disillusioned. Somehow their love for Jesus has died It’s not easy running a marathon. The first 20 or 30 km is fairly easy. It’s when you reach the 30 or 40 km the pressure, the pain comes. If you started to fast you can hit a brick wall and you cramp up, become dehydrated, reduced to a walk, give up and pull out. Some Christians don’t even get to the start line. Others start running another path that God has not designed for them. The question is are you running the race God has designed for you or are doing your own race. Following your own course. I want to finish the race that God has set before me. I don’t want to be disqualified.
Psalm 81 in the passion translation reads like this
‘But my people still wouldn’t listen., my princely people would not yield to me. So I lifted my grace off of their lives and I surrendered them to the stubbornness of their hearts for they were living according to their own selfish fantasies. Oh that my people would once listen to me and walk faithfully in my footsteps following my ways.”
They were running their own race. What race are you running. Will you finish well.
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