“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.”
—Hebrews 12:1
Everywhere you go today, people are jogging. Everywhere you look people are pounding on the pavement. And that’s good because we need to have healthy bodies and temples that glorify our God.
But what I’m really fascinated by is concerning those great athletes that we call marathoners. Those men and women, who run 26 miles, 385 yards. This isn’t just a little jog in the park; but this is a competitive race.
The Christian life is a marathon too. It is not a 100-yard dash. The Christian life is not to be lived in spurts and jumps and stops and starts, but it is to be lived like a great racer running to the finish line.
Too many people think of the Christian life as being a dream. But rather the Christian life demands discipline. So often in our convenience society, we look at the Christian life as a blast, when the Bible tells us that the Christian life is a battle.
We’re in a war; we’re in a race and the bullets are real and casualties are high. I’m not talking just about the entrance into the race, but I’m talking about the endurance that is required to finish the course and to run the race. The Bible says to run that we might win.
WE’RE NOT COMPETING AGAINST EACH OTHER, BUT WE ARE TO RUN THE RACE THAT IS SET BEFORE US.
