THE RACE IS ON!

My mom used to tell me when I was growing up, that when you lose someone close to you heaven becomes just that much more real to you. Fortunately, the Lord has not yet called anyone home that is really close to me, but I have lost aunts/uncles and cousins that I know were saved. Because I know that they are in heaven then yes, heaven does seem a little closer to me now than it did when I was a child.

I’ve often wondered over the years whether our loved ones actually know what we are doing here on earth. I especially like the way The Message interprets Hebrews chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 “Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. 2 Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.” Now that makes me nervous, when it is put this way that "pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on?” That makes me feel very inadequate. Honestly, the way you and I should look at this is that we have our own trails to blaze. We have that same Spirit living within us that these pioneers had. We have the Holy Spirit living within us and He gives us the strength to blaze our own trails for our Christian faith! They are watching us and they are cheering us on! Now how intimidating can that be? But, we can’t think of it as intimidating because they are cheering us on, they are on our side and we must run our own race by keeping our eyes focused on Jesus Christ! He is the perfector of our faith! He is the one who began and finished the race that you and I are now in.

Our opponent in this race is not flesh and blood! Satan is alive and well and the race we are running is for the souls of the lost people in this world. We are not running this race for our own glory, we are running for the glory and honor of Jesus. The pioneers that have gone before us understand that and that is why they are cheering us on. Verse 1 continues “....Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.” How can we run a race when we are carrying spiritual fat and parasitic sins? We need to shed the excess spiritual fat that we’ve been carrying around for years by reading and studying the Word and not by relying on things that we have heard. We must be Bereans (those who searched the word for themselves to see if what Paul said to them was the truth - Acts 17:11) where the Word of God is concerned. We need to let go of our parasitic sins, the sins that we are aware of, sins that we continue to allow to hang on are parasitic and they feed off of us. These are sins that we know are there and they don’t surprise us when they show up.

Don’t you think that it is time that we get in the race? You have paths to blaze for Jesus! You know what you are called to do and you know that God has equipped you for this job! You know that you are being cheered on toward the finish line and you know that when the race is finally won that you will be rewarded for a job well done! We can each throw off our parasitic sins (if we want to) by reading and studying the Word, by turning to our fellow Christians and allowing them to help us overcome these sins that are sucking us dry. It’s time to shed the excess and it is now time for us to run full speed ahead! We can’t lose, Jesus is on our side and all of those who went on before us are cheering us to victory!

Father God,
We need your help Lord! Jesus is the perfector of our faith and He taught us how to run our race and overcome the world. By studying how He ran the race, we can stay focused on the finish line. Help us Lord to throw off our spiritual excess and parasitic sins that are holding us back from realizing our full potential in Christ. I pray Lord that you put a hunger and burning desire into everyone reading this to study Your Word and to connect with a church where their brothers and sisters in Christ can help them reach their full potential. Your children need to realize that we are not racing against flesh and blood and that the race we are in has eternal consequences.

Cindy

@copyright 2011 LVC Ministries, Inc