Running the Race

 Lately, I've been trying to use my treadmill less like a thing to store junk and more like what it was originally designed for...but boy, am I out of shape!?  I have been trying to walk...but everything hurts, so I had to take a break for a few days, LOL.  I tell you, if I ever had to run for my life, just kill me know, because I'm not going to make it 😂.  

My feeble attempts at getting in some sort of fitness related shape came back to mind this morning when I was reading a short devotional that used the last part of Hebrews 12: 1 as its inspiration,

...let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

The writer of Hebrews uses a great analogy here.  Running requires endurance.  It is impossible to run if we don't have the stamina to perform this most difficult (and unpleasant if you ask me) process without giving way.  The power of staying on task...without giving up...that's endurance, and that's what's needed to remain in the race, the road, the plan that God has set before us.  Regardless of how challenging it is, just like Jesus did.  He who, 

For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12: 2b

Jesus is our model, our perfect example of how to endure the pain of the race, for the reward is a spot by His side, and what more could we ever desire?! But, how do we ever get that power to stay without faltering? How do people like me, weak in every sense, ever get the needed endurance to run the race?  Well, just like Hebrews 12: 2a says:

...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

Keeping our eyes on His face is what makes us walk on water!  Like Jude 20-19 also says in its call to persevere:

 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

That's the recipe to stay in the race, enduring the pain, hurdles and obstacles that do show up on the track, by keeping our eyes on the Prince who is the price, by building each other up, by praying and staying in constant connection to the Holy Spirit, and by keeping ourselves in God's love...waiting and trusting in His mercy in the hope of eternal life.  This is the only way to run.

May the One Who Designed the Race for each one of us infuse His endurance in us so we have the power to stay in it until He calls us home to give us our price.  In The Precious Name of Jesus the Author and Perfecter of all we are.  Amen!