Hebrews Chapter 12
I joined a half marathon mass run in the year 2017. It was my first time to run such a long distance, and perhaps it could be my one and only experience ☺
I was not a veteran runner. So half marathon was really a great achievement for me. What an experience! It was not an easy “battle” especially for someone with a heavy body weight, it was extremely tiring. I almost gave up but I did not. I kept telling myself that I must reach the finish line like the rest of people who run before me. I continued running and endure until I reached the finish line. Yes, I did it!
Likewise, for Heavenly race, we need to run with endurance. We must strip off the excess weight that slow us down, and keep fighting against the sin, which so easily ensnares us (Hebrews 12:1)
Sin can entangle us, make us stumble, and disqualify us from the race. Sin is very deceitful. People step into the trap of sin because it is very attractive and seems harmless. Sin often starts small, but once we give sin an opportunity to work in us, it will grow and overpower us, resulting in spiritual death (James 1:14-15).
The “weight” in Hebrews 12:1 here refers to anything that distracts us and slows us down in our journey of faith, including ambitions, anxieties, or pleasures (Luke 8:14; 21:34). These things may not necessarily be sinful in themselves, but we should still lay them aside because they can hinder us too.
Sometimes, we may be so preoccupied with our careers, education, relationships, leisure, etc. that we do not have the time nor the energy to think about the things of God and our faith. We must set our priorities right so that these would not make us lose sight of our Lord Jesus Christ in our lives.
Christian life involves hard work. It requires us to give up whatever endangers our relationship with God. We need to run with endurance and to fight against sin with the power of the Holy Spirit.
The “great a cloud of witnesses” in Hebrews 12:1 refers to people described in Hebrews 11. Their faithfulness is a constant encouragement to us. We do not run the race and struggle alone, and we are not the first to struggle with the problems we face. Others have run the race before us and they reached the finish line too. What an inspiring heritage we have!
Let us continue to keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2)
Jia youuuu! Yes, you can do it!