260 in 2012 DEVOS - Day 216 - Hebrews 12: Run for Your Life!

The first 10 chapters of Hebrews are about Jesus being “The Bomb” – superior to everything and everyone! Chapter 11 describes how faith alone in Jesus alone was demonstrated by faithful greats. “Therefore…” = Chapters 12-13 is the “so what” of this letter, the application. The “great cloud of witnesses” are those faithful peeps from chapter 11. It’s as if the writer is saying, “Look around you at all the examples of faith! If they can live by faith, so can you!” It’s as if you & I are on the track of life ready to run and they’re in the stands cheering us on! What a great motivation!!! So how do we do this? He mentions five things: • Throwing Off Everything that Hinders: one of the greatest problems runners face is weight. Pounds, clothes, etc… have to be taken off. You never see a runner run the race in their warm ups! Why? You can’t win carrying excess weight. The problem here is not what the weight IS but what the weight DOES – it slows us down. • Throwing Off Sin that Entangles: The problem here IS with sin issues, the things we KNOW are wrong but we do them anyway. They can cause us to stumble and fall. I don’t know of any runners who have fallen in a track race, got up and won. • Running with Perseverance: Determination to not give up is key to an athletes success and it’s the same with our faith in Jesus! Patience would be another good word here. The Christian life of faith is a marathon, not a sprint and God is calling us on to go the distance! There WILL be obstacles, we WILL get tired, but we MUST NOT give up! • The Race Marked Out for Us: This is a race of faith. There are many differing races and different ones who run those races. We must be sure to run OUR race, not someone else’s! Some are harder, some are easier, some are shorter, some are longer. • Fix Our Eyes On Jesus: Two thoughts here. First, Jesus is THE greatest example of One who ran the race God marked out for Him! Second, many things distract us in life, even good things at times. The runner who looks into the crowd to see who is cheering for them may lose the race in doing so. We must set godly priorities and stick to them! In doing so we “will not grow weary and lose heart.” The rest of the chapter gives more applications on how to live a faithful life in Jesus: Do not lose heart, endure hardship, know that discipline produces a harvest of righteousness and peace, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees, make level your paths, live in peace with all men and be holy, worship with reverence & awe and BE THANKFUL! SO WHAT?! *So how is your race of faith going? Are you running? Jogging? Walking? Sitting on the track tripping people? Watching from the stands? There is nothing more encouraging than the successful example of one who has done it before! JESUS ran for two things (1) joy set before him and (2) sitting down at right hand. Only what was at the end of the race could have motivated Jesus to leave what He did and endure what He did. Do these things motivate you? *What “excess weight” do you need to throw off that may not even be sin but distracts you from running? Obsessions with Video games? Facebook? Clothes (don’t throw these off in public)? Stuff? Maybe ask a friend if they notice anything that keeps you from being sold out to God. Scary, but it may be the best thing for us! *Who in your life has been an example of faithfulness? Why not take some time today and tell them thanks!? Email, facebook, tweet or snail mail a note to them while they are on your mind. It may be just what THEY need to make it through another day!