The Race is ON!
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author (originator) and finisher (perfector) 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 12:1-2).
“Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2, Amplified Bible).
Cloud of Witnesses!
The “Cloud of Witnesses” are the examples mentioned in Chapter 11 of the Book of Hebrews who had borne testimony to the Truth:
· God is atop the list by framing the universe with the Word of God!
· Abel offered a sacrifice more pleasing to God!
· Enoch walked with God!
· Noah was righteous and blameless in the sight of God!
· Abraham believed and obeyed God!
· Sarah judged God faithful!
· Isaac placed his life on the altar his father Abraham had built!
· Jacob wrestled with God!
· Moses chose to suffer with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of Egypt!
· Rahab believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, whom she had not known!
· The list goes on with Daniel, Esther, Mordecai, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego!
These are the examples of Truth who completed their races in God and are cheering on us to do the same. We are enriched by the richness of their examples, their weaknesses, and their resoluteness to stand for God and represent Him. They had challenges, shortcomings, trials, and long periods of waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises in their own lives, yet they secured their places in the “Hall of Fame of Faith” in the Bible.
Fitness for The Race!
To be fit to run the race, we must lose every encumbrance and eliminate sin from our lives.
· Strip off every encumbrance! Encumbrance represents “weight,” which means “protuberance, bulge, swelling, or projection!” What is your bulge? What is your swelling? What is your extra weight? What defines you other than your walk with God? Anything other than your walk with God that dominates your life is “protrusion,” and “weight” that you carry, making you not so fit to run the race. You cannot drag something bulging out of you and run a clean race! Please check and examine your heart (that knows) what extra baggage you are carrying and bring it to the cross of Christ. Jesus will set you free and keep you free.
· Throw away sin! Sin in Greek represents “missing the mark, missing or wandering from the path of uprightness and honor, doing wrong, wandering from the law of God, violating God’s law.” Running the race means keeping ourselves on the mark and not missing it. The violation of God takes us away from the pathway of the race that makes us unfit. Jesus was wounded for our transgressions which are the violations of God’s laws, and only He has the authority to forgive us of our sins. Sin weights us down from running the race and Jesus will set us free when we confess our sins to Him.
Running the Race!
· Run with patience! Diligence and patience are warranted in winning the race and obtaining the promise as the writer of Hebrews reminds us: “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish (lazy), but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:11-12).
· Endurance! We are engaged in a marathon that requires endurance and power. I watched games extended to the additional quarter beyond the regulated time for the game. The team with ample endurance training won the game with the same focus, strength, and determination they had started it with! Heed Jesus’ words for the last days: “But he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13).
· Steadiness! Steadiness for the race requires fellowship, a godly fellowship we surround ourselves with. Moses did not win the battle against the Amalekites without the help of others: “But Moses’ hands became heavy (weary of being held up); so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun” (Exodus 17:12).
· Active persuasion! Active persuasion of faith keeps our race on track. Here is the testimony of Abraham’s persuasion of faith: “(Abraham) did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform” (Romans 4:20-21). Persuasion of Christ’s love helps us overcome adversities as Apostle Paul was persuaded: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35, 37-39). Persuasion of unshakable trust in God helps us finish the race: “For this reason (of my calling) I also suffer these things; nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (II Timothy 1:12).
· Overcome distractions! Distractions lead to crashes, broken bones, delays, and even death. The enemy will distract you from finishing your race on track and on time. Here are the accumulated weights (extra baggage) that will cost us our race – Unforgiveness, Envy, Jealousy, and Bitterness. Apostle Paul: “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor (loud quarreling), and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31). Paul admonishes us to forgive: “Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices” (II Corinthians 2:10-11).
Jesus, the Beginner and Finisher of the Race!
· Jesus the Originator! The Source of our faith is Jesus! It is very important to keep our eyes on Jesus, and Jesus alone. People, especially heroes on television, can disappoint us. I remember in the late 80’s when I was in a foreign country sharing the gospel in churches, half of the churches emptied because of the downfall of a famous minister of the gospel. It was so shocking to them that they stopped going to church. I also remember after powerful meetings in Germany, a couple who hosted us broke into tears when they asked me, “Will you fall from your place? We will be devastated and cannot handle the shock of you disgracing God.” I replied to them: “No, I will not depart from walking with God if you pray for me regularly.” They promised they would. Our race originates from our faith in Jesus. Apostle Paul said it the best: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
· Jesus the Perfector! Jesus is the Finisher and perfector of our race bringing it to maturity and perfection. My race began several decades ago when I was physically healed of flared-up bleeding ulcers. Before hospitalization, at midnight after losing a lot of blood, my spirit was hovering over my body, and I was pulled away to this illuminated space in the heavens with no light fixtures, but brilliant light and I found myself conversing with people of different nations and origins I had never met. My heart was filled with love that I could not fathom, and I wanted to stay there forever until a Brilliant Light approached me from my back. A holy hush fell all over me, and I did not dare to turn around and look. From the midst of the light was my Master’s voice: “My servant, I have not called you here yet. Go back and be a witness for Me.” I felt the touch of my Lord on the back of my shoulders, and I came down to the body wrapped in the blanket. THAT WAS THE BEGINNING, SEVERAL DECADES AGO! Fast forward several decades of experiencing God and walking with God! Now all that I see in front of me is Jesus! He is no longer at my back tapping my shoulder but standing before me at my destination, the finish of my race. I could not take my eyes off Him. He is all I see and my pathway, racecourse, is clear. I am running toward Him!
“Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2).
The Cross Grants us Joy in the Race!
The cross PREPARES us for the race!
The cross keeps us FREE on the race!
The cross HELPS us finish the race with JOY!
Jesus is our example: “(Jesus), for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2, Amplified Bible).
The cross helps us overcome selfishness, pride, arrogance, and conceit all of which will add “weight” to the race and make our race difficult. Let us remember Jesus’ command for discipleship: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).
The cross is the symbol of shame, and yet, it gives us joy nothing else gives. Apostle Paul faced persecution in Jerusalem with joy: “And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race (course) with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:22-24).
Paul’s motivation and the singleness of purpose must be our motivation: “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain (arrive at) to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended (laid hold of it); but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:10-14).
Apostle Paul’s triumphant finish must be our goal to finish our race in Christ: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (II Timothy 4:7-8).
The Race is ON!
The Author and Finisher of Our Race is Jesus!
We Begin Our Race in Jesus!
The Witnesses of Faith, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Daniel, Esther, Mordecai, and all Others Who Finished Their Race Bearing Testimony to the Truth Are Cheering Us On!
Let Us Strip Off and Throw Away Every Encumbrance – Unforgiveness, Malice, Bitterness, Envy, Jealousy, and All Other Things of the Flesh!
Let Us Lay Aside Sin – Missing the Mark, Breaking of the Law, Violation of God’s Will!
Let us Constantly Persuade Ourselves with Faith, Love, and Determination to Trust God to Continue Our Race!
Let us Keep Our Eyes on Jesus Who Finished His Race!
The Joy of Our Race is Rooted on the Cross of Calvary!
Let us FINISH and FINISH STRONG!
Prayer
“Heavenly Father, I love You and thank You for Your immeasurable grace and love that saved me from the degradation of sin and death. I thank You, Lord, for setting my feet on my course of faith to run my race. I will keep my eyes on You, and draw my strength, power, and guidance from You daily. I will obey the Holy Spirit to get rid of the encumbrances and wrong focuses from obstructing my race. Lord, with Your grace and love, I will finish my race in Jesus to stand before You one day to behold the beauty of the Lord in Your Holy Presence. I am Yours, and Yours alone, my Lord. In the Most Wonderful and Precious Name of my Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen! Amen!!”
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John Jeyaseelan
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