Go!

Last week I had a frustrating day. I have once again registered to run a Half Marathon in January, and I hadn’t been able to run for a week due to travel and commitments. That day was the day to get out and attempt 10 miles, which would put me back on track in my training. So I hydrated, slept well, woke up early, had my clothes already laid out and guess what? Rain. Not a nice drizzle to keep me cool, but pre-hurricane drenching rain.

In my feeling-sorry-for-myself -funk, I remembered this beautiful passage from Hebrews. It must have been a sunny day when the guy wrote this. Jelly!

Hebrews 12:1-2

12 So then let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. Let’s throw off any extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up, 2 and fix our eyes on Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter. He endured the cross, ignoring the shame, for the sake of the joy that was laid out in front of him, and sat down at the right side of God’s throne.

I have always loved this passage, as it has so much to teach us.

The first thing that jumps out at us is the phrase “the race that is laid out in front of us.” Just stop for a moment and consider that. This is a reassurance that God has a path, a way, and a journey already laid out for us. Not in a predestination sense of the word: As United Methodists, we don’t believe in predestination. But rather in a prevenient grace kind of way. Consider the grace that is spelled out in Jeremiah 29:11 which assures us that God has a plan for our lives. It is a plan to prosper us and not harm us, and it is a plan to give us a future with HOPE. As Methodists, we understand that we indeed get to exercise our free will. We can choose to stay in the race that is laid out in front of us and choose God’s plan which offers hope, or we can choose our own way, often to our detriment, distraction, and even destruction.

So where is our hope? Our hope comes from keeping our eyes on Jesus, whom the writer of Hebrews calls the “pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” The perfecter part we expect, but did you hear that other word? Pioneer. Jesus is our pioneer, because he came before us to conquer death and blaze a trail of righteousness for us to follow. He is our example, our model, and our inspiration. He’s the guy in the marathon who puts his race bib and a message on the back of his shirt instead of the front because everyone else is following him. He has already run this race and if you keep your eyes on him, you own the race.

And one last word: He ran the race for your joy. He ran it for “the sake of the joy that was laid out for him:” The joy of knowing that his race brought you freedom and eternal life. So run your race with the joy that Jesus purchased for you on the cross, always keeping your eyes on him, and run every day with perseverance. Someday when you cross that finish line he will hand you the best race bling of all … not a finisher’s medal to hang around your neck, but a crown of glory to wear upon your head.