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| Written by Ken and Me |
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}.
The Olympics are
here and a reminder that we who are believers in Jesus are athletes for the
Christian faith. We are called to “run with endurance the race” of faith that
we might get to the end of our lives and not find ourselves disqualified. No,
we don’t take steroids and cheat like the many athletes who were disqualified
this year, but far too many Christians are running for last place in the
Kingdom of God instead of running to win the race that is set before them.
Imagine a top runner
in the Olympics and she knows she can outrun the rest of the competitors, so
she stops along the way to get a coffee, and then watch a movie, then pick up a
twenty pound sack of gold coins and carry them with her to the finish line. She
did not come in last, but she came in the middle of the pack, with her talents
squandered because she wanted her coffee, movie and gold. What would all of the
spectators say about her, and far more what would her own competitors think?
This woman could have won it all, but she wanted her pleasures and her security
over winning the race.
How about you?
How is your race of faith coming along?
Do you have time to train each day by being in God’s Word and praying
daily, or have the pleasures and cares of this world choked out your faith
training time so you have so little? Do you expect to win on shear talent
alone, or expect that no matter how much you wander off of the race of faith to
seek fun and sins that Jesus will get you to the finish line all by Himself?
If you are in Christ
you are a new creature fit for the race of faith and ready to love and serve
and please your Lord Jesus over all of the pleasures and weights of this world.
You are the perfect specimen of righteousness and hope in Christ Jesus to go
and win souls for the Kingdom and to shine the light of Jesus everywhere you
go. Is your light hid under a bushel or does it shine brightly? Do you talk to others
about your faith regularly, speaking and singing words that bless others as if
you running for King Jesus?
As strangers and pilgrims on this earth we are waiting for a city
whose builder and maker is God. This city is going to be a better country where
God will be ruler over all {Hebrews 11:10-16}. This is not our home, so we are
commanded to not "enjoy
the pleasures of sin for a season"(Hebrews 11:25) but instead to "lay aside every weight and
the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race
that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our
faith" (Hebrews
12:1, 2).
What are the weights we are called to lay aside? They are anything
that hinder our race of faith and take our eyes off of our perfect Savior. The
weights of the things of this world can be the Internet, television, smart
phones, hobbies, the desire to accumulate wealth, too much value in sports or
in our children, or anything that distracts us from spending any time in the
Word and prayer. If we don't have time to be a godly help meet to our husband,
a wonderful mother to our children, or fulfill our God given responsibility as
an older woman training the younger women, then we are carrying unnecessary pleasures
and weights that are keeping us from our race of faith. Satan and this world
want nothing more than to keep us away from God's calling on our lives. We must
be vigilant to train for the race of faith, and deliver winning times when it
comes to serving our Master.
Christian, the idea we can believe in Jesus and keep sinning is
foreign to the Bible. We must do what He commands us to do. And what has He
commanded for us? "That
we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one
another" {1 John
3:23}.
Look now at your life and find those weights of lack of time,
energy, focus or pride that weigh you down and keep you from loving your
husband, your children, and others the way we are called to love them. We must not
only hate what is evil, but put aside every encumbrance to our faith.
"Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that
doeth good is of God but he that doeth evil hath not seen God" (3 John
11). We cannot say we love God if we don't love others and we are not doing good.
If you know others who say they believe but continue in sin, pray
for their souls and that they will repent and get back into the race of faith. For a good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree, bad fruit. And as Jesus says, “We
shall know them by their fruit.” Be bearers of good fruit daily as you place
your life into the hands of a loving and just God. He will make your way clear to
run so as to win, but He expects you and me to be doing the running, and
running well. He will not carry us all the way, if He has given us all we need
for life and godliness. He wants us to grow up and be great runners for the gospel
of Christ. Will you run with me and tell the pleasures and weights of this
world to take their proper back seat to the things of God?
