Hebrews 12: 1 – 2
(NIV): 1 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. 2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter 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.
When a passage begins with the word, “therefore”, we need to
look back to see what it’s there for. In this case, he is referring to the
faith hall of fame we find in Chapter 11; the men and women of old who lived by
faith and took God at his word. Now, those heroes of the faith are cheering us
on as we live our own lives – as we run the race that God has placed before us.
The great “cloud”
of witnesses is a metaphor for Olympic grandstands full of cheering people,
encouraging us to win the race we find ourselves in. God has given each of us
our own unique race. We each have a life to live. So we must throw off anything
that hinders us from running to win. This is anything that comes between us and
God. And we must not let sin entangle our feet and trip us up. Sin causes us to
be losers in our own race.
It is interesting
that the word for “race” in this passage is “agon” in the Greek. This is where
we get our English word, “agony”. It’s not that our lives are sure to be full
of pain and hardship, it’s just that we will face challenges we will need to
overcome in order to win our race. We
will need to have self-discipline as we strain ahead toward victory.
The key to winning
our race, then, is to keep our eyes on Jesus. Becoming more and more like him
is the goal of our faith. And he will give us the power we need to run and win
the race. He gave us our faith and he will see us through. If we will keep our
eyes on him and not be distracted by all that is happening around us, we can be
winners. We can live victorious lives, full of joy and purpose.
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