Go the Distance

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter (finisher) of our faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2

I recently had the opportunity to run in the Orange County Half Marathon, a twisting and turning route that travels through the industrial parts of Irvine near Sand Canyon and Barranca Parkway. It was a nice cool day for a run, and despite the fact that through the holidays I had not had much time to get any training runs in, I decided to go ahead and participate in the event. I got up in the wee hours of the dark morning, went through my pre-race disciplines, put on my TEAM 413 shirt that has the bold scripture on the back of it from Philippians 4:13…reminded myself that I CAN do ALL THINGS through Christ Who gives me strength… laced up my shoes and drove over to the starting line location with my oatmeal and coffee in hand. I didn’t see anyone else at the starting line with a TEAM 413 shirt on, so I happily figured that God had sent me there to be a testimony that day to other runners and walkers, and I was excited to once again have an opportunity to share my faith with others. However, as the miles began to increase, I started to notice that at several places along the route, there were MANY switchback opportunities to cut across to the other side and shave off miles from the 13.1 distance. In most races, there are places you need to run across with your timing chip to show you completed all the areas of the race, but in this race I knew there were none of these checkpoints, so in reality no one would actually KNOW if you ran the full distance or not. Normally, this would not even be an issue for me, but because I had not prepared fully for this race, and my legs were starting to remind me of WHY you need to do more consistent weekly long runs to prepare…. I must confess that the temptations started to tug at my mind as I began to get physically and mentally weary of the race. The GOOD NEWS is that as each assault came to cheat, I was reminded of the scripture message that was on my shirt and I realized what a poor testimony I would be to those running behind me if they saw a “Christian” run to the other side and cut the race short and get a medal for not running the full distance. Perhaps a person was behind me that was an unbeliever, what if my actions would cement their opinion that all Christians were fakes, and what if my stupid and selfish actions kept someone from spending eternity with God. I kept hearing the Spirit of God over and over again quoting Hebrews 12:1 to my mind, (our devotion verse for today). I WAS surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, who would “witness” my actions whether they were honorable or hypocritical. What if someone needed to see the message on my back as an encouragement to keep running, only to watch me run over to the other side and NOT do all things through Christ but through my own flesh as I did not run the race marked before me. God’s Spirit “ran” with me for the ENTIRE race and I am here to say (as God is my witness) that I finished the race, I ran the full distance, and I raised my hands at the end and glorified God for reminding me to be true and faithful to HIS WORD as His ambassador.

Isn’t life like this at times? We start our races strong, but as in a marathon, life is a LONG endurance event, certainly not a sprint. The devil will come at you and try to convince you to take shortcuts, he tries to convince you that no one will know, and that we should take the easy way out when we are faced with decisions that mean we have to persevere and follow a tough race route that God has put in front of us. Our passage today reminds us to “fix our eyes on Jesus”, HE is to be our focal point when times are tough. He is the One Who authored your faith, and He is the One Who will “perfect” or “Finish” it. The Greek word here for “Perfector” is also used in photography when someone would place a negative in the chemicals and wait until the images became visible on the blank paper. God has already taken the snapshot of His Plan for your ENTIRE life, we just need to persevere and allow Jesus to “Perfect” it, to bring it to completion, to allow it to be seen before our eyes and the eyes of the world. Paul reminds us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, people who are watching to see what is different in those who claim to be CHRISTians…. Can they see it in you? I challenge you to prayerfully remember that you are a witness one way or another.. either to bring glory to the name of Jesus or shame. Your actions, your words, your decisions, your choices, your disciplines (or lack of them) testify to whether Christ is alive and working in and through you. Take your opportunity and use it to glorify God in ALL areas of your life-race. Run strong, run faithfully, don’t cut corners, don’t listen to the devil when he tries to hinder you or entangle your feet as you run.

I wish I could tell you that as you get older and more mature in your walk with God that you are immune to temptation and sin, but this is sadly not the case. The devil is relentless until the day we die (if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior), then we are completely set free from that possibility and are joined with God for eternity in heaven, Halleluiah! Our women’s bible study group recently finished our 5 month study of the life of David, a man after God’s own heart, and his life, all the way to the end, was filled with tragic stories of his failure to make the right choices in his personal and private life. And yet, God forgave Him, restored him and had an intimate relationship with him all the days of his life. I share my story with you today to encourage you to KEEP RUNNING your race, and allow the Holy Spirit to rest on you and lead you and guide your and REMIND you that you ARE representing Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world.

Shalom, sister Lahoma

Tweet