by Dona Hake
Yesterday I had shared with you about recognizing any weight that may be holding you back or causing you hindrance as you run the good race set before you. I want to share the scriptures from Hebrews 12:1-2 again with you.
Hebrews 12:1-2
The Voice (VOICE)
“…let us drop every extra weight, every sin that clings to us and slackens our pace, and let us run with endurance the long race set before us.
We may feel alone, but we aren’t. We are surrounded by an army of witnesses. They have run the race of faith and finished well. It is now our turn.
Now stay focused on Jesus, who designed and perfected our faith. He endured the cross and ignored the shame of that death because He focused on the joy that was set before Him; and now He is seated beside God on the throne, a place of honor.”
Today I want to look at verse two where Paul is zeroing in on focusing on Jesus. As we keep our eyes on the Lord and His perfect will, we will see the world around us as God sees it. May we fight the good fight and run the good race with every bit of our being! Today I want to share a story with you that I heard a few months ago. I think it fits wonderfully with our meditation in God’s Word from Hebrews.
There was a young man being interviewed on the news after a race that he ran. The runner was sharing that as he was approaching the finish line he was convinced that he was going to win and he relaxed right before the finish line. The sad thing was that he did not see the young man that was running beside him, and that young man ended up winning the race. Oh my how he must of felt so upset with himself! The young man that lost the race made an assumption but he said to the reporter, “There are more races, I am sure I will never do that again!” The gist of the story was that he shared that he knew his competitor was close but he thought he had it. Oh how assumption can really get us into trouble.
Stories like this can serve to make us think about spiritual things. How many times do we think that our battle may be over, and we relax in the fight, and that devil throws in a punch, and sets you back. Sometimes things like this can really teach us a great lesson in this life, but one thing for sure is we need to always be persevering till the end of everything we put our hands to. As Paul said in Hebrews 12:2 “Now stay focused on Jesus….” As we stay focused on Him, nothing else around us will keep us from the pursuit of victory. Let us run with endurance and persistence the long race set before us!