WITNESSES AND RUNNING -- Tomorrow:
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." (Heb 12:1-4)
Devotion 8 of 13
ENDURANCE
" . . . and let us run with patience the race that is set before us . . ."
Remember these three cardinal points. ENDURANCE! ENDURANCE! ENDURANCE! No one who does not "finish" the race will obtain the prize! You must "run to obtain the prize" not ONE of the prizes, but "THE prize" (1 Cor 9:24). Only ONE receives the prize, says the Spirit. Hear His words! "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it"(1 Cor 9:24, NKJV).
While our brethren are precious to us, there is a sense in which we do not run in clusters. There is a sense in which we run alone, and blessed is the person who sees it. If others do not obtain the prize, be sure that YOU obtain it! In the center of a most remarkable Apostleship, Paul confessed, "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:14, NKJV).
We live in a time when too many people are clustered around the starting line. For some, the "beginning" is everything. Their entire church strategy (if I may so call it) is designed to get people to begin the race. Everything is measured by how many START the race. But this not the posture of the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit.
The saints who have gone before us are not overly enamored with starting either. They recall how some started the trip to Canaan, but were "overthrown in the wilderness" (1 Cor 10:5). The Apostles could remind us of one of their own number who "fell by transgression," leaving a vacated "bishopric" (Acts 1:17-20). Paul can tell us of "Demas" who forsook him, "having loved this present world" (2 Tim 4:10), and Peter spoke of those who "turn from the holy commandment delivered to them" (2 Pet 2:21). A penchant for statistics has enabled some sophists to account for the falling away of disciples. Some can even statistically predict how many will depart from the faith in a specified period of time. They are starting experts! However, expert starts that do not consummate in a finish are utterly worthless.
You will find heavenly personalities clustered around the finishing line! It is finishing that is everything. If the race is not completed, nothing else counts. Believing, in such a case, was "in vain" (1 Cor 15:2). The faith was not "kept," the race was not finished, and the prize will not be gained! What difference, therefore, will it make whether or not the race was started, if it is not finished?
Eternal life, we are told, will be given to those who "by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality" (Rom 2:7). The time of reaping will surely come, if spiritual fatigue does not bring us down. As it is written, "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart" (Gal 6:9). What, dear believer, is worth "losing heart" over? Stay in the race! Stay in the race!
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, grant me grace to finish the race for Your glory and the completion of my salvation.