The Race of Faith (Hebrews 12:1-2).
Notice that the above verses follow Chapter 11, The Heroes of Faith. Here in these verses, the
race is likened to a stadium where the athletes run to win an unperishable crown watched by a
crowd of spectators-the heroes of Faith.
The Apostle Paul in 2 Tim.4:6-8 says, 'I have fought a good fight....' . Our fight, as believers, is a good fight, as opposed to the fight of the people of the world.
Many enter the Race but not all finish well. It is easy to give up when beset by problems and discouragement. Paul, writing to the Galatian believers when they were faced with many problems, told them, ' You ran well.....' .
The Aim of the Race. The finishing line. Keep your eyes on it. What is our Aim? JESUS, 'The Author and Finisher of our Faith' .Keep your eyes on Him, not on the crowd.
To run well and finish there are three conditions to be met (v.1).
1.Free from weights. Not necessarily sins but usually small things in our Christian lives that can hinder our spiritual walk (bad temper, evil thoughts, habits, criticizing, and many more).
Eccl.10:1, speaks about small things that can spoil something expensive or precious,
1 Cor.5:6-8, warns about Leaven in our lives that can inflate us spiritually. We normally see the big things in our lives but not the little ones that can spoil our spiritual progress, 'Take us the little foxes that spoil....'.Song of Solomon
2.Free from Sin. Sin is usually more obvious; but not always so. There are often sins hidden in our hearts, even from our youth that were never dealt with which can spring up to trouble us. We need to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit so that they are exposed to His eye and receive cleansing, Ps.139:23-24. Sin will bring us down and end the Race for us. We shall be disqualified from the Race of Faith.
3.Run with patience. Impatience, the common cause for many workers for the Gospel.
King Saul was rejected by God because he failed on this point - Pride. It is illogical to run a race patiently. It is against the standards and logic of the world but God says in Is. 55, 'My ways are not your ways' .
We cannot conform to the world's ideas and standards and expect to be successful, 'We walk by Faith not by Sight'. Many Churches copy the world's ideas and they think they are progressing in the Faith.
Are you in the Race of Faith today? Keep your eye on Jesus The One who ran the Race before us
and finished Victorious.
Notice that the above verses follow Chapter 11, The Heroes of Faith. Here in these verses, the
race is likened to a stadium where the athletes run to win an unperishable crown watched by a
crowd of spectators-the heroes of Faith.
The Apostle Paul in 2 Tim.4:6-8 says, 'I have fought a good fight....' . Our fight, as believers, is a good fight, as opposed to the fight of the people of the world.
Many enter the Race but not all finish well. It is easy to give up when beset by problems and discouragement. Paul, writing to the Galatian believers when they were faced with many problems, told them, ' You ran well.....' .
The Aim of the Race. The finishing line. Keep your eyes on it. What is our Aim? JESUS, 'The Author and Finisher of our Faith' .Keep your eyes on Him, not on the crowd.
To run well and finish there are three conditions to be met (v.1).
1.Free from weights. Not necessarily sins but usually small things in our Christian lives that can hinder our spiritual walk (bad temper, evil thoughts, habits, criticizing, and many more).
Eccl.10:1, speaks about small things that can spoil something expensive or precious,
1 Cor.5:6-8, warns about Leaven in our lives that can inflate us spiritually. We normally see the big things in our lives but not the little ones that can spoil our spiritual progress, 'Take us the little foxes that spoil....'.Song of Solomon
2.Free from Sin. Sin is usually more obvious; but not always so. There are often sins hidden in our hearts, even from our youth that were never dealt with which can spring up to trouble us. We need to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit so that they are exposed to His eye and receive cleansing, Ps.139:23-24. Sin will bring us down and end the Race for us. We shall be disqualified from the Race of Faith.
3.Run with patience. Impatience, the common cause for many workers for the Gospel.
King Saul was rejected by God because he failed on this point - Pride. It is illogical to run a race patiently. It is against the standards and logic of the world but God says in Is. 55, 'My ways are not your ways' .
We cannot conform to the world's ideas and standards and expect to be successful, 'We walk by Faith not by Sight'. Many Churches copy the world's ideas and they think they are progressing in the Faith.
Are you in the Race of Faith today? Keep your eye on Jesus The One who ran the Race before us
and finished Victorious.
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