The Christian life is not only a race, it is a particular kind of race. You must not only run it, you must run it in a certain way. Hebrews says that we must run the race set before us with endurance. This requirement ought not to be quickly passed by. I have known men who were remarkably fast. They could out run another man without even trying. But some of these very fast men were not the kind of men who could hold up when difficulty came knocking. Over their lives, they had not steadily become men who could face significant adversity.
Your duty is to steadily become such people. Doing so requires three things of you:
First, lay aside every weight and sin that obstructs your progress. These sins take on many forms: lust, pride, laziness, worry, gossip, covetousness, pick your sin. Whatever you will confess before the Lord now is a weight. You must lay it down before the Father and then rise lighter and unburdened.
Second, consider the cloud of witnesses surrounding you. They remind you, even in the face of these new difficulties, which seem quite heavier than the last round, that you do not run alone.
Third, and this is the most essential thing: You must look to Christ. And I mean really look to Him. He is the author of your faith, and he is the finisher of your faith. That means you don’t merely look to Him as an example, saying, “Well if Jesus endured the cross, then surely I can face the day.” No, you look to the finisher of your faith, knowing you can’t finish it. The trial teaches you that you cannot trust in yourself. And so you look to Jesus because He is your endurance.
Jared Longshore – April 21, 2024
