Hebrews 12:1-2a (NIV) - “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”
About a week ago, there was an attempt by Nike with three elite runners to see if one could run a marathon under two hours, an impossible feat as shown by the 2:00:25 time by the top finisher. Among many strategies in place for this epic trial, one was the unique pacing structure. There would be, “a blockading diamond of six pacers to shield the runner from wind, which has been tested in wind tunnels to be the most advantageous to a following runner.” Now how much did Nike spend to figure out what the Bible already has pointed out to us? Running with others makes the race a whole lot easier. And the race we are running is not to make history, to break a world record, or to market running shoes, our race is forward towards Jesus - it is a guaranteed, victorious finish in him, we’re going to be #Breaking2.
Therefore, it matters that we see the other runners, not once in a while, but often, as much as we can, and not just those presently running, but to also remember those who have already run and gone before us. When we see the other runners it reminds us and helps us to throw off the hindrances and to not get entangled in sin. We have a race to run, we can’t let those things slow us down, get in the way, stop our progress. When one of us falls, we’ll pick you up and run together, if you can’t run, we’ll carry you. And we’ll look together towards the finish, not where a line of tape awaits us, no, our Lord awaits us, our eyes are on him.
Let us pray today picturing those who worship alongside of us. Who normally sits to the left, right, behind, in front of you on any given Sunday? Pray for those brothers and sisters, your fellow runners in the guaranteed #Breaking2 race we were entered into upon saying yes to Jesus. Pray we would run a persevering race as we fix our eyes on Jesus.
-AK
