Day 2: Life is a Marathon – Not a Sprint

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV)

God has an objective for our lives. According to Hebrews 12:1-2, the Christian life is a race, marked out for us. However, it’s not a dash or a sprint. It is much more like a marathon. It is a long race. The particular quality that’s emphasised there is perseverance or endurance. We are going to have to see the course in front of us and throw off everything that would hinder us to run that race successfully.

The things that hinder us could be sins but it speaks also about other hindrances. Some things are not sinful, but nevertheless, they hinder us from running the race that God has set before us. For that reason, we need to eliminate them from our lives.

When it comes to finding God’s objective for your life, this is the first important point to grasp – that there’s a race marked out ahead. It’s a long-distance race. It is going to take perseverance, or endurance, to finish.

Secondly, you and I are to fix our eyes on Jesus. Jesus is our pattern and our inspiration for life. if we ever take our eyes off Jesus for any length of time, we will lose our ability to run the race successfully.

Another vitally important truth that’s contained in that passage is that Jesus is "the author and perfecter of our faith". He is the author, the beginner, the one who set it all in motion. We recognise that, but sometimes I think we tend to lose sight of the fact that He is also the perfecter. He not only started things in our lives, but He’s also going to finish them.

There is one thing I have seen about God both in Scripture and His dealings in my life: God never starts anything off that He is not capable of finishing. So we need to take heart and be encouraged by this fact. Jesus started us off on this race and He is going to enable us to finish it. He is the author, He is the perfecter.

Take time to reflect on this. First of all, the Christian life is a race, the course is marked out ahead of us, and it’s going to take endurance to complete the race.

Secondly, to be successful, you and I have to fix our eyes on Jesus. He is both our pattern and our inspiration.

And thirdly, He is both the author and the perfecter of our faith. As long as we keep our eyes on Him, He will not merely set us going, but He will enable us to keep going and He will bring us successfully and triumphantly to the finish of the race.