Hebrews 12:1-2
I may have bitten off more than I could chew . . .
Ok, now that I’m starting to write this, I’m thinking I may have picked a rather long verse for this post . . . but it’s a good verse! There are so many topics that are talked about in this verse! Hopefully I can write a rather concise post on this . . .
Let’s go ahead and get started! Ready? Set? Go!
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses . . . .
My dad is often the Sunday School teacher for our small church, and whenever we run across the word “therefore,” you can be sure he’ll tell us that we need to go back to see what the “therefore” is there for. Most of y’all probably know the Bible well enough to know what this “therefore” is there for. Our verse comes right after Hebrews chapter 11, which is often called the “Hall of Faith.” Chapter 11 talks about many people who showed their faith in God in numerous ways.
These people are the cloud of witnesses that have gone before us. They have already finished the race, and now they wait for us to join them with the Lord on Heaven’s golden shore. We have their stories recorded for us all throughout Scripture, and we should turn to these stories for encouragement as we run our race!
. . . . let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely . . . .
We often use this as applying only to forsaking our sin. That’s good! Of course we should lay aside our sin, as it hampers our ability to draw near to the Lord. But sin is not the only weight that we need to be laying aside.
There are many things that will hamper us in our race that may not necessarily be sin. These weights are anything that keeps us from God or doing what God wants us to do. They may include activities that we put before time with the Lord (Ever skipped church for a sports match?), friends that draw us away from the Lord (We should always be friendly to all people, but people who draw us away from God shouldn’t be our closest friends.), or things we have that distract us from doing the Lord’s will (Oops . . .).
We need to lay aside these things so that we may draw closer to God. We are in this world, but not of it. We can have things in this world, friends in this world, activities in this world; but we need to be careful that none of these things get in the way of our relationship with our Lord. And if any of them do, we need to quickly set those things aside and return our focus to the things that aren’t of this world.
. . . . and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us . . . .
Let me let you in on a secret: life is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. Living for the Lord in a fallen world full of temptation and persecution takes endurance. And we must endure this world for a time as we run this race called life.
. . . . looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith . . . .
Where do we find the strength to endure? We find it by looking to Jesus! He is the one on whom our faith rests!
He is also the perfecter of our faith! If you’ve memorized this verse in KJV, you have the word “finisher” instead of “perfecter.” What does this mean? It means that our faith not only finds it’s foundation in Jesus and His work on the cross, but it is also made better by Jesus. He helps to strengthen our faith until it is perfect!
. . . . who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame . . . .
This is why we can place our faith and find our endurance in Jesus! He is among the cloud of witnesses! He also has run this race! He came to earth, leaving behind the comfort and holiness of Heaven, to endure a death on the cross for us. He did not care about the shame of this death, but took it upon Himself so that we could find eternal joy and rest in Him!
. . . . and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Praise God, the Lord Jesus did not stay dead! He is raised to life, and now sits in glory at the Father’s side! There He waits to welcome His children Home!
Apply It!
With this knowledge, let us run with endurance! We can rest assured that no matter the temptations or persecutions we may face, we have hope in Jesus! He waits at His Father’s side to welcome us Home once we finish this race!
Let us lay aside any weights in our life: any pet sins, any things that get in the way of doing the Lord’s will, any things that we have placed before our Lord. Let us forsake them and turn our hearts in faith, hope, and joy to Jesus Christ! He has run the race before us and finished, and now He waits for us on high!
Let’s Pray:
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for the sacrifice You made for us! You left Your Home in Heaven to die on a cross so that we sinners could be reconciled to You! It leaves us in wonder to think of this! Please give us the endurance to run this race for You. Help us to realize and lay aside anything that hampers our running for You. Help us to point others to You as they see our joy and hope we have as we run for You!
For Your glory and honor I pray,
Amen
Related Songs:
Keep the Race Before Us — Herbster Trio
Find Us Faithful — Steve Green
Extra Baggage — Patch the Pirate
Verse of the Week video: