“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us…” (Hebrews 12:1 The Amplified Bible)
Do you remember the movie, Forrest Gump? There is a segment in this film where the character, played by Tom Hanks, goes on a five-time run across America. According to the Marathon Handbook, in this fictional comedy-drama, the star character ran 15,248 miles over a period of three years and two months. Suddenly, at the end of this period and to the surprise of many who followed his epic run, Forrest just stopped.
That was the character’s run. The Christian’s run is not like the movie, dissimilar to Forest Gump’s run. You see, we must keep running and never stop. We must maintain our passion for running the race. It is imperative that we follow the advice in the opening passage to make sure we can run with endurance and endless persistence. You see, we run by faith and our run is real, not an excerpt from a reel of film, even if the latter is inspired by a true-life account. The writer of Hebrews paints a picture of a great cloud of witnesses, people who had finished their run, running by faith and not sight. These are people who pleased God. For without faith, you cannot please God.
In reference to witnesses, Forest Gump had witnesses too! Crowds of people ran along with him as he passed through their spaces and places on this earth. Guess what? (Did you say, “What?” Good!) We have people that are watching us run, as we sojourn through the days of our lives, running on various types of figurative terrain while on this earth. So, not just for our sake, but for the sake of others, as long as we live, we must continue “The Run.”
On “The Run” there will be distractions, dark days, dejection, disruptions, divisions, and distances where we must run through rough ground, but we must remain devoted and driven by faith, as a sense of duty, we need to keep running. On “The Run,” at times we will have to withstand tests and resist temptations that try to get us to stop. But let’s keep running, my friend. We may not always have the encouragement of a crowd of people watching us as in the case of the Forrest Gump movie, but we must run like all the eyes on earth our on us. Run on! Run so we will please the eyes of the Lord who is looking down on us.
Since I mentioned “the Lord,” let me assure you that He is our helper and when we don’t know which way to head in any given situation on the landscape of your life journey, follow the advice in the closing verse. Now, let’s go have a good run today! Be blessed!
“…[looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work].” (Hebrews 12:2 The Amplified Bible)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King