Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
I’m super excited to start a new season of life that includes training for some races. To get ready, I am needing to change some habits that prevent me from training, and I need to shed some weight that slows me down. Just getting prepared to train for the race is a project! Running the race is a whole other challenge!
Have you ever run a race? Have you ever been in a competition? Every competition from professional sports to boardgames can bring the best and the worst out of people. Whether you are participating or spectating, tempers can flare, purpose can fade, and difficulty can cause some to quit.
The race that the author of Hebrews refers to is life.* The word that the author of Hebrews uses that we interpret into “race” actually came to refer to any athletic competition observed by a crowd.* The word usage even extended to reference all sorts of struggles including legal battles and military conflicts.* Boy does that sound like life!
How many times have you found yourself in conflict, battles, and struggles? Life is so hard. It can be easy to get angry, lose sight of purpose, and to feel like quitting.
The author of Hebrews encourages us that those believers who are looking on are cheering us on! They are cheering us on as those who have successfully completed the race themselves.* While this may provide some encouragement and accountability, it hardly gives us what we need to finish the race.*
The author of Hebrews goes on to say that the author (pioneer and originator) and finisher of our faith stands before us.* What is He doing? He is giving us what we need to make it!* He knows the difficulties of this race of life, and He made it!* Not only that, He starts it and finishes it for us!*
How is it so hard then? How can something that we did not start and do not finish take so much out of us?
The author of Hebrews tells us that there are things that slow us down and threaten to trip us up: sin and anything else that slows us down.* The athletic metaphor that he uses implies that certain things have to be removed just as bulky clothing may need to be removed before a race.* In fact, athletes of the time often competed naked so as not to be slowed down (spandex had not yet been invented). How extreme is that commitment to the race?!
What slows you down? What weighs you down? Some of those things may be sin. Others just might be things that need to be shed. Perhaps you have taken your eyes off of Jesus. Watching tv, eating pizza everyday, and late nights on the phone may not be a sin, but they definitely will impede an athlete. Other things are sin and must be stopped in order to finish the race well.
You are an athlete in the race of life. Cast off what slows you down. Jesus is here to help. Look to Him.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to shed those things that are slowing you down. Perhaps there is a sin that He wants you to cease or freedom from a weight that He wants to provide you. Maybe today God wants you to look to Him and continue on. Perhaps today God wants you to walk out extreme obedience and commitment.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
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*Stedman, R. C. (1992). Hebrews (Heb 12:1–3). IVP Academic.
Grindheim, S. (2023). The Letter to the Hebrews (D. A. Carson, Ed.; pp. 611–618). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
France, R. T. (2006). Hebrews. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition) (Vol. 13, pp. 167-169). Zondervan.
Guthrie, G. (1998). Hebrews (pp. 397–399). Zondervan Publishing House.