“And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” ~Hebrews 12:1-4 Recently, I was reminded of a powerful verse in Hebrews 12. Often I glaze over keywords in my Bible, because I become accustomed to the verbiage and thus desensitize myself to the magnitude of the words in front of me. I think that’s one of the downsides of being a long-time Christian: you forget the feeling of reading these words of hope for the first time. I praise Jesus for working in my heart and opening my eyes to the gravity of these words. Hebrews 12:1-4 reads: “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Often I aimlessly scan over the words, but this time something tugged at my heartstrings. My spiritual antennas poked up at the phrase, “the race marked out for us.” As believers, we have a collective race marked out for us—a race in which, with every walking or running step, we claim every corner of our lives for Christ and bring Him due glory and honor. That long trek to the finish line brings us to the gates of eternity where Jesus waits with open arms. But there’s another race going on here too. We each have our own individual races marked out with our own unique crosses to bear. Yet, many of us find ourselves slaves to comparison. We longingly gaze at the people around us, hoping for better relationships, better jobs, and overall more exciting lives. We stare at the track next to us and desire the race that someone else is running. We scroll through social media, half mindless yet half mindful in that we absorb the realities of those around us. We spend so much time coveting the lives of others that we forget to live our own. In Hebrews 12:1-4, we learn that our personal races are like none other; while someone else may be further down the road, sprinting with ease miles up ahead, you may have to take a breather and walk slowly for a mile or two. That’s okay! God has a purpose for every season of life. Remember that your race is marked out for you. Comparison has no place in the race of faith. Thankfully, it’s the only race that has more than one winner. All that matters is we finish strong. This passage also touched on the way in which Jesus ran the race marked out for Him: “For the joy set before Him he endured the cross.” Joy? How could Jesus—knowing everything he would endure hanging on that cross—move forward with joy set before Him? He had the foresight to recognize that His pain would be temporary and rewarded by a seat at the right hand of God the Father. It makes me wonder. If Jesus Himself could endure the cross with joy set before Him, and His spirit lives and breathes in us, do we possess the same capacity to face our own unique crosses with the joy of Christ forging our paths? On this side of heaven, we face broken relationships, physical and mental illnesses, and uncertainty of all shapes and sizes. Yet, the spirit of God Himself, Who endured pure agony with an untouchable joy, lives in each of us. Even the darkest of circumstances couldn’t shake Him. Could it be that this unshakeable joy is within our reach too? Jesus—even facing the grueling reality of the cross—stepped forward with perspective and joy. It makes me think that maybe, just maybe, we can too. Questions for Reflection
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