Keep Your Eyes on CHRIST

Hebrews 12: 1-2

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Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

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When is the last time you really took a good, hard look at how you are doing in the race? Have you checked recently to see if there is sin that is entangling you, running the race that is set before you? In the busy world that we live in, we are often so caught up in the doing of things that we don’t remember / make time for / etc. the laying aside of the encumbrance of sin that we sometimes find ourselves in.

If you are like me, you want to run the race exceptionally well, but you feel at times like you are merely jogging. Do a “runner’s inventory.” Take a look to see areas that you’ve become stagnant. Pray that God would reveal unrealized or unacknowledged sin that needs to be dealt with. Ask the Lord to change sinful attitudes, habits, etc. Whatever is keeping you from running with endurance needs to go. Stop worrying about your pride, and think about your stride. Our walk with Christ suffers when we walk as fools in sin and allow the encumbrances to “win.”

How can we learn to avoid these encumbrances? How do we shed them? Look to Christ. And no, this isn’t a children’s Sunday School answer for a difficult problem. The longer we fix our eyes on Jesus Christ, the more our faith (which he authored) is perfected. As we grow in our relationship with Him and learn more about who He is and what He calls His followers to do, we begin to “get it” more and more. Suddenly, we are living the life that Christ called us to. We die to self and begin to live like Him.

I challenge you this week to study the following verses, and see what application they have to your journey toward running with endurance the race that He has set for us. Stay the course, and let’s run the race together!

(Ephesians 4:14-16)
(2 Peter 3:17-18)
(Romans 12:1-2)
(John 3:30)
(Luke 9:23-24)