RUN with ENDURANCE... Finish Strong!

“Run with endurance the race that God has set before you” Hebrews 12:1

Endurance is the key to running God’s race and finishing strong. Endurance is the thing.   

Press on to the finish. Run steady.  When obstacles block your path, run around them, keep a steady forward pace, don’t waiver, there are no breaks in this race, no coasting through the hills and valleys waiting for things to smooth out.  This race is not easy, its a life lived “in Christ” with no promises of an easy journey.  This race will be marked by troubles, periods of stress, extreme exhaustion and at times a strong desire to give up.  There are invisible forces pulling, pushing and prodding at you to throw in the towel, give up, take a rest you deserve it.  Saying you tried to finish is not good enough... you must finish this race... there are no prizes for “I tried, got close, did my best.” Only those who finish well will win the final victory and God’s crown of eternal life.  Endurance... without that internal chutzpah, you will never make the finish. 

A few famous philosophers have spoken of the quality of endurance and how important it is to the human spirit and life experience:  Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory. (William Barclay) Endurance is patience concentrated. (William Carlyle)  Every calamity is to be overcome by endurance. Come what may, all bad fortune is to be conquered by endurance. (Virgil)

This race God has set before you begins not when you are born, but when you are immersed into Christ in obedience to the gospel and his gift of the Holy Spirit begins dwelling within you (Acts 2:38).  The race for me began 31 years ago when I heard the truth of God’s Word and obeyed the gospel.  That decision was the starting point of the race God set before me, and I’m still running that race.  

The race is fulfilling the unique role God gives you to influence others for Christ. That is the prime directive and goal of our journey with God, to seek and save the lost, teaching them to be lifelong disciples.  Paul describes the tasks of his race in Colossians 1:28,29.... Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. (ESV)  My race revolves around teaching the Bible, shepherding and serving my brethren in my local church, mission activities in southeast Asia, living each day of my life set apart to His service and doing whatever I can to make people – the unsaved – aware of God’s free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.  Your race may be different than mine—but it will always revolve around showing and sharing Christ’s love to people who don’t know Him and encouraging people who do to persevere in their journey with God.

This race requires endurance, it is a marathon—not a sprint.  It begins with your baptism into Christ and lasts until you die or Christ returns.  The key is not how fast you start the race, but how consistently you run... steady to the finish.

It is a steeple-chase marathon—it is filled with obstacles, including opposition from people who aren’t in the race and don’t want you to be in the race, from a cultural value-system that beckons you to live for self instead of for Christ, and from demonic spirits that hate Christ and want to knock you out of the race completely.

The fact that the Bible calls on us to run this race with endurance means that there is a danger that we will drop out of the race.  All people who call themselves Christian do not automatically finish their race.  Many start well but end poorly or not at all. They’ve taken their eyes off the prize... the race to finish well is no longer motivating, they’ve fallen under the powers of this fallen world.  As Paul says... Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. (2 Tim. 4:8)  You cannot afford to run this race without an understanding that there are forces that want to derail your run, to ruin your chance to reaching the finish and God’s reward.  What will help us have the endurance we need to finish well?  

Get rid of all baggage that will hinder you in your run.  If you have ever watched runners in a real marathon, they run light, without much to hinder their movements.  As they near the middle of the race you’ll often see runners stripping off extra shirts and jackets, everything but the one with their race number.  Everyone gets as light as possible, it’s a long race and they don’t want to carry any more weight than they have to so they can finish strong.  You never see anyone lugging a backpack in a 26 mile run!

Hebrews 12:1 says... throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,  That’s the author’s point, isn’t it?  You can’t finish this race with endurance if you’re carrying extra weight.  If you want to run this race, you need to get rid of all baggage that can hinder your ability to run and finish.  Notice that the text speaks of two different kinds of baggage.

The most common baggage is “the sin that so easily entangles or hinders our progress.”  This doesn’t mean that you can’t run the race if you commit sins, we’d all be out of the race if that were so. However, it means that you can’t stay in the race long if you are clutching on to and rationalizing things that you know God says are wrong and destructive.  When you’re clutching on to and rationalizing sexual immorality or substance abuse/dependence, it will sap your motivation and stamina.  When you clutch on to and rationalize bitterness and hatred, it will sap your motivation and stamina (Eph.4:32).  When you’re clutching on to and rationalizing things like materialistic greed, it will sap your motivation and stamina (Mark 4:18,19).

By distinguishing  “the sin that so easily hinders our progress” from “every weight that slows you down,” the author implies that even things that are not overtly morally wrong can be baggage that we need to lay aside, because they simply don’t fit into the course and race God has set before us. The Apostle Paul says these things may be okay in an of themselves, but when they are enslaving you, it’s time to put them down (1Cor. 6:12).

How about you?  Are you mired in baggage?   Has God shown you that you’re clutching on to some sin that is hindering your progress?  Has he pointed out a weight that is slowing you down?  Have you been complaining to yourself that living for Christ is exhausting, when the real problem is that you’re carrying burdensome baggage?  Get rid of it!   It sure helps to have some Christian friends in your life who will help you in this area. We need to be accountable to one another, to help one another identify the baggage in our lives, to pray with one another and to agree with God on this issue of throwing off every weight that hinders our progress.

Draw encouragement and strength from other veteran runners.  Hebrews 12:1 speaks of a “great cloud of witnesses” and Hebrews

chapter 11 names the first honor roll hall of fame of faithful men and women who pioneered this race... and they finished well.  The imagery you should construct in your mind is a stadium nearing the middle to the end of the marathon... filled with thousands of people who are cheering on the runners.  Anyone who has run a marathon (or even half-marathon) knows how much it helps to have people along the race course cheering you on.  But these ones mentioned in Hebrews 11 and called “a great cloud of witnesses” are a special group – they are veteran “runners” who made it to the finish. They are “witnesses to what it means to live a life of faith.”  The point is that if you want to run this race with endurance, you need to draw strength from other veteran runners.  And they are not just these ancient ones from the Old and New Testament, many are with you in your church family.  They can give you insight, motivation, and encouragement to keep going when you want to quit. Without question, the most beneficial source of strength is the inspired record of how God worked through specific people to advance his plan to rescue a lost humanity.  This is one reason to get into a daily Bible reading plan... you will meet and learn a lot from these “runners” who have already finished well.  You will even begin to understand those around you in your church family who are living as the faithful ancients as they run their race.  Imitate them... its your fuel for endurance.

The Old and New Testament figures, [and living faithful ones around you], can teach you a lot about how to run the race.  One of the most encouraging things you’ll learn is that they were not super-heroes.  They were normal people like you and me, who had weaknesses, character flaws, and made mistakes.   Noah built the ark—but he also got drunk after the flood.  Abraham followed God into a land he’d never visited—but he also chickened out twice about Sarah being his wife.  Moses forsook the power and prestige of Pharaoh’s court and stood against his world’s super-power—but he also whined and complained and mistreated God’s people.  David was a man after God’s heart who in many ways foreshadowed the Messiah—but he also fell hard through his adulterous affair with Bathsheba.  The encouragement here is that God is able to work powerfully through very flawed people, if only the trajectory of our lives is to trust him and follow his directions.

With New Testament figures, like Peter and John and Paul, you can read about what they did in the Book of Acts, and then peer into their hearts through their epistles. You can also learn a lot about mistakes to avoid by reading about Old Testament negative examples, people who dropped out of the race or didn’t finish well.  You can also get strength from reading stories and biographies of other Christian workers... Christ-followers over the last 2000 years.  You will learn about ordinary people like who lived extraordinary lives for Christ.  You will be encouraged to see that anyone who has ever stood up and served God faithfully, had weaknesses and fears and all kinds of problems, yet God worked powerfully through them to advance His plan because they stayed in the race.  They never gave up!

You can also get strength from workers God has placed in your life.  When you get in the race, God sovereignly brings people into your proximity who can help you learn how to run your race more effectively.  They also are a unique source of strength because of the tactical knowledge about following Christ you can get from them.  Run with them, follow their example.

What about you?  Are you flagging because you’re trying to run the race by yourself?  Get strength from these other veteran “runners.”  This is one of the best things about fellowship with like-minded believers, you get to be around other “runners” who have already run through the part of the course you’re presently in.   You get to rub shoulders with people who have endurance, who can teach you how to fine-tune it for your run.  You get to learn from them how to study the Bible’s “runners” and get strength from them.  Don’t neglect the precious resource of fellowship.   Get involved, seek out fellow believers and ask them to mentor you.  

Here’s what you have to run your race: (1) a “great cloud” of those who have gone before you, (2) a “great crowd” of fellow runners with you now, heading to the same destination, (3) the Holy Spirit to equip and enable you to meet life’s challenges as you run for your crown (4) The Bible, prayer, fellowship, personal study, teaching, mentors, accountability partners, service opportunities, caring for others, giving, etc, etc.  Living the Christian Life.

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. Hebrews 10:36