“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, 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 set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of grace.”
In order to run the race of life, we need to get rid of the things that will weigh us down, but in order to run the best race we have to run with patience. What does this mean? First, it means that we should run with endurance. A foot racer has to be in good physical shape to run effectively. It is a reminder to us that we have to be in good spiritual shape in order to run effective Christian lives. We must run with faith in Jesus, remembering that He gives us His strength through the Holy Spirit. Of course our faith is strengthened through prayer and Bible study. We are saved by faith, and we are sustained by faith, with prayer and Bible study to strengthen that faith. Second, it means that if we are to run with endurance, we need to run wisely. In order to run the best race, we need to maintain our spiritual energy on a daily basis, and not let the devil rob us of the spiritual energy that we need to run effectively. We should not let Satan sidetrack us with things that do not matter, things that will take our eyes off of Jesus, and off of the life that He wants us to live. Third I want to share some things that can sidetrack us and rob us of spiritual energy: 1. I repeat: Satan wants us to keep from spending time in prayer and in the Bible. These are just two things that we cannot ignore…..period! 2. We get sidetracked by not loving people as we should. We just don’t need to let people “get under our skin.” You know what I mean. Grudges will stunt our Christian growth and keep us from living the best life. Grudges rob us of spiritual endurance. We need to forgive other people. This is not always easy, because some people hurt us badly, but, no matter, we need to forgive. 3. We get sidetracked by not being patient with ourselves. I don’t mean that we shouldn’t take sin seriously. What I mean is that when we have been forgiven, we should accept God’s forgiveness, and move on. It robs us of spiritual endurance when we continue to kick ourselves for sins that have been forgiven and cast out. Just as we forgive other people, we need to forgive ourselves. I find that this is more difficult than forgiving others, but we have to do this in order to maintain our spiritual stamina. I trust that you get the idea of what it means to “run with patience.” Consider your own “race” and run well. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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