Have you ever considered who is watching us run this race we call our lives? We know that God is watching, but the bible says that there is a great cloud of witnesses cheering for us to run this race well.
Have you ever watched your favorite sports team play after it’s been eliminated from the playoffs? Not usually must see TV. But, if you have ever had the opportunity to watch your team play in a championship game you know that it’s an exciting and exhilarating experience. You have the opportunity to cheer them on to victory! I sometimes think of our lives like a TV channel. Have you ever been watching a show and then something comes on that is inappropriate or morally wrong and you had to change the channel quick? I wonder if that is what happens in heaven when those who are witnessing us live out our lives see us choose sin. What would the rating of our lives and our thoughts be? G, PG, PG-13, R, or worse?
Questions I encourage you to consider:
- What is the sin that so easily entangles us?
- What are the weights or distractions that are slowing us down?
- Do you ever feel like you are running this race alone?
As I have considered the 3rd question I found great encouragement from God’s word. Everyone’s race is different but, we all are able to keep our eyes fixed on our savior Jesus Christ. He had the most difficult race to run in all eternity, But because of this He understands what its like to run. He was running for us. And His finish line? Sitting at the right hand of the Father.
As we keep all this in mind, it still can feel like a long race and we still have to fight discouragement and sin. God gives us excellent advice for this fight in Hebrews 12.
Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees,
and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
Hebrews 12:12-13
We definitely have times during our race when we feel weak and vulnerable. One of those times for me is when I am tired. If I haven’t made a plan (straight path for my feet) for how I am going to spend my time in the evenings, it is easy for me to waste my time on a computer or phone instead of spending time with other people.
- Are there any areas that you can make straight paths for your feet?
How we run this race matters, and God calls us to pursue him in such a way as to glorify him through our actions.
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
Hebrews 12:14-17
Lastly, imagine running into a stadium with hundreds of thousands cheering you on to finish your race well…
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
Hebrews 12:22-24
Hebrews 12:22-24 says that YOU HAVE an innumerable group of people cheering you on, so with that in mind, run your race well looking unto Jesus.
-Bill Saunders
Saunders Family Updates 