The Race of a Lifetime

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Hebrews 12:1-2  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

     I was never involved in too many sports activities as I was in the “bank” and earmarked for music school and so my Mother did not want me to get a finger broken in sports activities.  I persuaded her to let me go out for the track team of Rolling Prairie High School.  All I had to do was run as fast as I could.  I ran the half mile, the quarter mile and the mile relay team.  The rack shoes were thin and had no heal on them as you were expected to run just on the toes of your feet.  They also had spikes in them and in those days we ran on tracks composed of fine cinders.  I once fell during practice and skidded on my hands and knees for about ten yards causing a lot of cinders to be in the palms of my hands.  Painted with antiseptic, my Dad picked me up and just said, “Mom is not going to l ike this.”

     The writer of Hebrews describes in the passage above the running of the Christian life and the weights that cause us to run slower and slower are the sins in our lives.  He goes on to say that these sins which compose those weights are easily stuck to us. Every believer is in this race from the time they are born again, or born from above, until the time that they are either dead or taken up in the rapture.  You can’t get out of the race and you can’t say, I have done my share, now leave it to the younger believers.  It is a marathon in itself and goes on and one through your whole life time.  We also see that we are to run this race with patience.  There is that word again describing that characteristic that is so elusive to believers.  Patience is hard to come by for the simple reason that it is not common for us.  It is not the normal thing that  we are born with.  As babies, we cried loudly fior food, being burped and having our diapers changed.  When we were uncomfortable, we let people know.  Unfortunately, this same thing takes place when we become adults and loud crying doesn’t bring any kind of peace to those around us.  Thus, we strive to keep this race going with patience in our lives.  Many have already completed their race and have gone on to heaven.  Chapter eleven is the chapter of “faith” which has a list of those great figures of the Old Testament from Abel to the prophets. The Lord Jesus Christ however, the the author and finisher of our faith, having completed the work on the cross at Calvary adn who is now seated at the right hand of God the Father.  Praise God for the fact that the race was won by the Son of God