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- 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. 2. 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. 3. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Hebrews 12: 1-3
I am training to run a marathon on November 19, 2022. This is not the first time I have chosen to run this type of race, it is however the first time I have stuck with the training program laid out for me (at least most of it). It takes perseverance, focus, and discipline to stick to the plan. Knowing that if I do stick to the plan is going to make my results on race day that much better. This is just like our walk with the Lord, there is so much out in the world to distract us and tempt us away from God. It is so easy to take our eyes off of the prize and just say “not today God, there is too much going on right now”. Just like the running program, missing one session makes it that much easier to miss the next one and the one after that, before you know it you haven’t run in a month and now your training is all out of whack. You will not be as strong on race day as you could have been if you had stayed the course.
The good news is that God knows that we will stumble, we will miss the mark, and no matter how long it’s been since we prayed or went to church he is always right there ready to welcome us back. He gave his son to come to this planet and give his life in one of the most humiliating and painful ways. Jesus could have called down a host of angels to save him in the moments leading up to this event, but he didn’t, he understood the stakes and he followed through with his task. In comparison, the pain I feel when training is nothing, and the discipline and focus I need are nothing. In return, God is only asking that we accept this gift of salvation that Jesus has paid for with his blood. How hard is it to do this? When really considered this is only hard if we as people are unable to put our own pride to the side and accept that our God has done something so unbelievably selfless and accept that Jesus is the Savior and accept him.
As I run the back roads of this tiny town in a remote part of Missouri I am often caught up in my own head and think deeply about my relationship with the world around me. I think about my wife and kids, my job, how I can make more money to provide an even better life for them. I often think about God and the world he made just for us. This world that, would undoubtedly be better overall if people weren’t here, but God created it for us because he loves us unconditionally and has done so throughout our entire existence even though we don’t deserve such love. What an amazing God we serve, even though we are unworthy of his mercy. Now is the time to come back to him and repent for the wrong that we have done and is in our hearts. Now is the time to show that we know that our God is real, he is alive, and despite it all he still loves us. Now is the time to take our religion back from those who seek to destroy it. Let your voices be heard praising God that he hasn’t given up on us yet.