From this point in the book of Hebrews, the author now speaks very practically. The author’s main practical application starts from Hebrews 10:32-12:13.
“Run with endurance the race that God has set before you”
God has a race for you to run! What a challenging and exciting thought — God has given me a race to run. God has designed a purpose for my life — a purpose that I can discover and fulfill. What is this race?
This race begins not when you are born, but when you receive Christ and His gift of complete forgiveness. The decision to receive Christ marks the end of our lostness, but it is also the starting gun of the race God sets before us, and it is a race we will be running for the rest of our lives here in this world.
The race is playing the unique role God gives you to influence others for Christ. Paul describes his race in this way in Colossians 1:28-29 Paul uses the Greek verb form of the noun translated “race” – agonizomai. My race has revolved around teaching the Bible here and elsewhere. Your race will be different from mine — but it will always revolve around showing and sharing Christ’s love both to people who do not know Him and people who do.
This race requires endurance for two reasons:
The fact that the author calls on us to run this race with endurance means that there is a danger that we will drop out of the race. All who receive Christ automatically go to heaven, but not all who receive Christ automatically finish their race. I have seen many start well but end poorly, including many who were key influences in my own life. It is a very sobering thing, and it makes me want to be able to say this with Paul (see 2 Timothy 4:8).
The rest of this teaching is for those who want to run this race. How can we do this? What will help us have the endurance we need? The author gives us four keys:
Last year, when I ran a half-marathon, I saw some bizarre behavior at the starting line. It was cold, and most runners had on extra shirts or even old jackets as they waited to start. But in the last 30 seconds of the race, thousands of runners, including myself, stripped off every shirt except for the one with their race number and threw them onto the street. Everyone made themselves as light as possible because it is a long race and you do not want to carry any more weight than you have to carry. One thing I did not see was anyone picking up suitcases!
Read Hebrews 12:1. This is the author’s point. You cannot finish this race with endurance if you are carrying extra weight! If you want to run this race, you need to get rid of all suitcases! Notice that the text speaks of two different kinds of suitcases:
The most common suitcase is “the sin that so easily hinders our progress.” This does not mean that you cannot run the race if you commit sins because we would all be out of the race! It means that you cannot 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 are clutching on to and rationalizing sexual immorality or substance abuse, it will steal your motivation and stamina. When you clutch on to and rationalize bitterness and hatred, it will steal your motivation and stamina (see Ephesians 4:32). When you are clutching on to and rationalizing things like materialistic greed, it will steal your motivation and stamina (see 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 suitcases that we need to lay aside because they simply do not fit into the race course that God has set before us. Early in my Christian life, I devoted a lot of time to creative writing. But at a certain point, God showed me that He wanted me to use most of my limited creative talent to develop Bible teachings. I could not do both to the extent that I wanted to, so I decided to drop most of the writing. And I have not regretted that decision.
I was talking to a young brother recently who has decided that he needs to radically down-size his living situation so he can have more time and energy to devote to spiritual growth and service. It was not a black and white moral issue, but God showed him that it was a weight that was slowing him down. Other such suitcases may include: video games and screen time, scrolling on the internet, shopping, sports and hobbies, and so on. Paul says these things may be lawful, but when they are enslaving you, it is time to put them down (see 1Corinthians 6:12).
How about you? Are you carrying any suitcases? Has God shown you that you are 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 are carrying suitcases? Get rid of them! Agree with God — acknowledge that they are burdens weighing you down, not something giving you the energy to run the race set before you. Give it to Him and ask Him to free you from it and cooperate with any steps He calls on you to take in order to be free. It helps to have some Christian friends in your life in this area to help one another identify the suitcases, to pray with one another to agree with God on this issue, and to help one another keep the suitcases on the ground instead of back into your hands.
Read Hebrews 12:1a. The image here is the stadium at the end of the marathon filled with thousands of people who are cheering on the runners. Anyone who has run a race knows how much it helps to have people on the sideline cheering you on. But these are a special group of fans — veteran “runners.” They are “witnesses to the life of faith” — specifically, the Old Testament “runners” that the author highlighted in Hebrews 11. They do not ‘witness’ as if they were merely spectators, looking down from heaven and watching believers’ lives; instead, they witness through the historical record of their faithfulness that constantly encourages those who follow them. We do not struggle alone, we are not the first to struggle with problems, persecution, discouragement, even failure. Others have ‘run the race’ and crossed the finish line, and their witness stirs us to run and win also.”
The point is that if you want to run this race with endurance, you need to get strength from other veteran runners. They can give you insight, motivation, and encouragement to keep going when you want to quit. And you have access to thousands of them!
You can get strength from Old Testament and New Testament figures. This is a unique source of strength — 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.
The Old Testament figures, like those recorded in Hebrews 11, will teach you a lot about how to run the race. One of the most encouraging things you will learn is that they were not superheroes; they were normal people who had weaknesses, character flaws, and made mistakes.
The point is that God is able to work powerfully through very flawed people, only if the trajectory of our lives is to trust Him and follow His directions.
With New Testament figures like Peter, John, and Paul, you can read about what they did in Acts, and then peer into their hearts through their letters.
You can also learn a lot about mistakes to avoid by reading about Old Testament negative examples — people who dropped out of the race and did not finish well (see 1 Corinthians 10:6-11).
You can also get strength from reading biographies of other Christian workers — specifically, Christ-followers over the last 2000 years. You will learn about ordinary people who lived extraordinary lives for Christ. Here are some of my favorites:
You will be encouraged to see that these people 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.
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 tacit knowledge about following Christ you can get from them.
I do not know where I would be today without the veteran “runners” God put in my life early in my Christian life. They inspired me by their example to wholly commit to God’s race instead of living for myself. They gave me insight into the specific race God has placed before me. They challenged me to drop the suitcases I was carrying. They were there to urge me to keep going when I realized how difficult the race could be.
Today, I am one of the veteran “runners” — and a big part of my “race” is giving strength to other younger “runners.” But I still have a precious network of veteran “runners” that I lean on for advice, encouragement, and correction. I cannot imagine being in this race without them.
What about you? Are you struggling because you are trying to run the race by yourself? Get strength from these other veteran “runners”! This is one of the best things about communities of faith — you get to be around other “runners” who have already run through the part of the course you are presently in. You get to “run” alongside people who have endurance, and who can teach you how to develop it too. You get to learn from them how to study the Bible’s “runners” and get strength from them. Do not neglect these precious resources! Get involved, seek them out, ask them to mentor you so you can run the race together.
