Run with Endurance

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)

The great cloud of witnesses, I believe, are the saints who have gone before us, as were mentioned in Hebrews 11, who walked by faith in the Lord and who obeyed what God told them to do. This is not saying that they all led perfect lives, but that they are remembered here for the times in which they walked with God and they followed his leading and they did what he said to do, by faith, and as a result, some people’s lives changed for the better.

This “faith chapter” of the Bible sets before us an example of what genuine faith in the Lord Jesus looks like. For the faith to believe in Jesus is gifted to us by God, and it is persuaded of God as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to repent of our sins and to turn to the Lord to now follow him in his commands. For this faith is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of man. And it results in good works.

So, what faith in Jesus Christ looks like is also described for us here in chapter 12 of Hebrews. For we read here that we are to lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely. For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and walk in obedience to his commands, we have life eternal.

And Paul wrote in Romans 6:1-23 that by genuine faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified and buried with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Therefore, we are not to let sin reign anymore in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God.

For we are to lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely. And a weight is a burden, and it is something that weighs us down so that we are not able to function as we ought. And if a sin clings so closely, it is a habitual (addictive) sin, i.e. a sin which entraps us and keeps us from obeying the Lord, for it has mastery over our lives, and not God. And this is why we must die with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, by the Spirit, so that we can walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands (Luke 9:23-26).

Yet so many people here in America are claiming that they are Christians and that they have faith in Jesus Christ and that heaven is their eternal destiny, but they have not died with Christ to sin, and they are not living to God and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands, because they are being taught that they don’t have to, and because they don’t want to have to relinquish the sins which cling so closely, for they want to continue in them, only with the promise of heaven when they die.

But it doesn’t work that way. That is not God’s design for our lives, and it is not his plan of salvation only to save us from the punishment of sin while we continue in deliberate and habitual sin without genuine repentance. For genuine repentance should result in us making spiritual U-turns in our lives away from living in sin to now living for the Lord to obey his will for our lives. For Jesus gave his life up for us that we might be turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan, that we might receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those sanctified by faith in Christ.

But the life of a Christian, the one who believes in Jesus Christ with genuine God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in Christ, is to be the life of one who is following after the Lord, who is pursuing the Lord and his will and purpose for our lives. We are to be those who are dying daily to sin and who are following our Lord in obedience to his commands. We are not to be carrying around a weight of sin which is dragging us down and which will keep us from obeying the Lord and from doing his will.

Instead, we are to be those whose focus is on Jesus Christ and on listening to him so that we can follow him wherever he leads us. For we cannot “run the race” he has marked out for us to run if our gaze is somewhere else other than on the Lord and if we are being distracted and led astray by the trappings of this world and by sinful desires. And that is why this illustration of a race is so perfect for us to help us to understand what our lives should look like if we are true believers in and followers of Jesus Christ. 

[Heb 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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