Running the Race
“Therefore, since we are surrounded so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also set 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
ON YOUR MARK… GET SET…
Wait wait wait before we start running, let’s have a little chat.
Sometimes it’s hard to find motivation when we are actually running, it's too hot out, it's raining, we’re sore, or maybe we have no one to run with. These obstacles can weigh us down and knock us off of our pace. Imagine trying to run while carrying a dumbbell in each hand, you would never be able to run at your full capacity. The good news is when we run the race that God has set before us, we don't have to hold onto anything weighing us down!
In order to let go of these weights and run with our full endurance, we have to have our eyes locked on Jesus for the entirety of the race. Jesus has gone before us and shown us what it looks like to run with endurance, He is our example. We must follow in His steps (1 Peter 2: 21).
But when we look back on Jesus’s time here on Earth, it wasn’t necessarily a walk in the park. In fact, He faced some serious backlash along the way.
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world; therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19)
Jesus calls us to live a life that is set apart in the same way that He did.
So what does it look like to be set apart in our everyday lives?
When living a life that is set apart, we are living in a way that is pleasing to God, not pleasing to man. (Galatians 1:10) On a college campus, that can feel a lot like swimming upstream, against the current, in a sea of 40,000 other students.
To avoid being swept up in the current, we must be willing to live a life set-apart, to stand out, and to be different in order to honor God and live according to His purposes. We have to be in the world, but not of the world. It’s about trusting that God's approval is worth far more than any fleeting praise or recognition from others.
Sometimes we create the false reality that Jesus had it easy and that in our day and age, we could never live a life that is a reflection of His. But it wasn't.
Jesus endured pain and persecution even after living a blameless life. But still, He endured the pain of the cross to atone for our sins. He made the ultimate sacrifice so that we wouldn’t have to walk around carrying dumbbells. Because of the cross, we can run freely with that same endurance as we gear up to run His race. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty grateful that I don't have to walk around curling 25 lbs ;)
So, as we're about to kick off this race, let's ditch every burden and sin that slows us down. Let's run with endurance and our eyes fixed on Jesus throughout. May our journey be set apart to show how faith and persistence can truly change the game.
Alright, now that we've dusted off those weights … GO!
