"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne."
Does this passage make anyone else really excited? Because I am totally ecstatic after reading it.
To start, I'm not sure who is in the cloud of witnesses. But whether they are angels, fellow believers or even loved ones who have passed on, it's clear that these witnesses are an encouragement to us.
I love the image of us running this race, being weighed down, getting tired.. then looking at Jesus- and everything changes. The burdens of life slide off. The sin that so easily entangles us is removed. And then we run with perseverance: not getting distracted, not getting defeated.
The Lord called us to this race. And he did not ask to run just so we could get worn out and give up. If he called us to run after him, we must be able to do it. In his grace, he enables us to run, full speed, to the end. There are distractions and burdens, but he gives us a way out. He gives us the strength we need.
I love the picture of Jesus "disregarding" the shame of the cross. All the guilt and condemnation we carry.. Jesus took it. And he overcame it. Disregard usually means "oh, that was no big deal, just ignore it." That's such an awesome way to put it. Jesus took ALL of our shame and looked ahead at the joy of being with the Father and uniting us with the Father and it was no issue.
I truly believe that the same Holy Spirit that was in Jesus has been given to us. I don't believe God has put us in a world that is going to destroy us. It's not always easy, but it's always possible.
It's my sincere hope that we can all learn to run this marathon just as God intended us to- victoriously.
Great post. to be honest I think the hardest thing to do is to keep our eyes focused on him. It's so easy to get distracted. I have the attention span of a humming bird so I'm zipping from one thing to another. If you think about it we all do it with our jobs, our significant others, having fun, even ministry. And my intention is not to demonize these things, they are all good and therefore from God, but we... and i need to learn to keep my eyes on him and even see the work of His hand in these things.
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