Hebrews Chapter 12
By Pastor Chris
RUN!
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. (Hebrews 12)
One of the most inspiring portions of scripture is found at the beginning of Hebrews 12. The writer has just finished listing great people of faith and now gives a short, but amazing pep talk. This is the scene that is painted: a stadium full of those with great faith who all have a rooting interest in…you. Able, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Samson, Barak, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets, the martyrs, and greatest of all, Jesus, are all standing by urging you forward with cheering more rabid than a sports fan.
The imagery of sport carries over into verses 4-12. The writer makes a single strong point that you cannot run the race in victory unless you have had training.
The first part of that training is to resist temptation. I have recently heard it said that resisting temptation is similar to resistance weight training. As we press against the weight (temptation) our strength builds (resistance to temptation). The second part of training is to endure the hardships that are bound to come our way. For a marathon runner, endurance training is the ability to keep moving forward for increasing periods of time when it might be easier to quit. The reward to enduring the difficult times in our lives with a Christ-like attitude is righteousness and peace.
These two forms of training applied to our daily faith will help us to better run the race. Hebrews 12:12 says, “Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. ‘Make level paths for your feet,’ so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”
In order to run in victory, the race set before us, we must be faithful to strengthen ourselves through proper training.
