Focus And Run

Hebrews 12: 1

Hebrews 12: 1

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge cloud 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 that God has set before us.”

How do we strip off every weight of sin and run with endurance? We have to go on to read the next verse to find our example in Christ.

Hebrews 12: 1, 2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge cloud 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 that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding it’s shame. Now He is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne….

Jesus is our supreme example of faithful endurance and all the brutal, lonely way to the cross He proved it. Not that He had to prove it, but rather it gave Him joy to die for the sinner’s hope of forgiveness, salvation and eternal life.

What kind of love is that? What kind of love endures the hard, lonely, struggle and scorns the shame of it? Only one who has his eyes fixed on His heavenly Father and His will. Christ did it for us, let’s run our own personal race for Him. Let’s face our brutal, lonely challenges for His glory. Life gets tough and quickly weighs us down. If we focus on the problem, we’ll quickly lose heart, fall from the race and succumb to the struggle, but if we focus on the Lord, we’ll find renewed strength. He blesses the life of faith in the believer, so let faith arise! Throw off the doubt, fear, worry, failures, discouragement and strongholds so that you can run freely and smoothly, without entanglement, with your eyes focused clearly on Christ, who runs beside you or carries you but also sits today at the right hand of the throne of God, interceding for you and praying for your endurance to make it to the finish line. You can do it with Him! Focus, focus, focus!