The Jewish believers to whom Paul is writing were weary and wanted to give up; but Paul encouraged them to keep running. As a Christian, if we are to win the race we must keep running.
Warren Wiersbe writes about his day in junior high school. “I had a coach who felt it his duty to make an athlete out of me. Everybody in my class could have told him he was wasting his time, because I was the worst athlete in the class – perhaps in the school! I entered a city-wide school competition, running the low hurdles. I knocked down six hurdles, fractured my left ankle, and immediately abandoned my sports career. (Shortly after, the coach enlisted in the army. I may have driven him to it.)
“Coach Walker used several techniques to get me to do my best. ‘Other students have done it, and so can you!’ was one of his encouragements. ‘Just think of what it will do for you physically!’ was another. ‘Now, watch the other kids – see how they do it!’ was a third. As I reflect on this experience, I am amazed to discover that these same three approaches are used in this paragraph, to encourage us in the Christian race:
Look around at the winners: verse 1 ‘the great cloud of witnesses.’
Look at yourself: verse 1 ‘lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us.’
Look at Christ: verse 2 ‘looking unto Jesus.’”
Let me encourage you as a believer to run the race that is set before you – that’s what a Christian does.
What to do:
✞ Run, not to just compete; but run, to win the race which is before you.
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