Good morning Champ. Breakfast is served.
You Do Not Run Alone!
Hebrews 12: 1 (NIV)
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.
I have never been a long distance runner, but I imagine that any runner who runs long distance or cross country races must at times feel very alone. Even if others are taking part in the race, each runner faces their own personal challenges and they have to deal with the thoughts of quitting. A runner must overcome what is termed “the wall”, that moment when they think they have nothing left to give and feel their bodies begging them to stop. The runner endures pain as his or her body, with every new stride, gives it’s all to run the best race possible and all this is done alone.
It is as they cross the finishing line they hear the cheers from the people who support them and have been waiting for them to round the final corner. It would be nice to have some people cheering during the lonely bends of the race they had just run.
Christianity is a race that we all run alone. Though we run towards the same finish line we all run a race that belongs to us. The race can get lonely and be full of challenges and we too can at times hit a wall and really want to stop, but it is then that we need to realize that we are not alone. The balconies of heaven are filled with the cheers of ,“come on you can do it”, shouted from the believers who have gone before, those who ran their race to the finish and now cheer us on to both run and finish well as we carry the batten of the Gospel that they once held and ran with.
If you are tired and at a loss for energy in your race of faith, hear the great crowd of witnesses again today, Paul, John, and Peter as they shout from the balconies of Heaven, “Come on, don’t quit, you can do it”. Take a breath, cast off the stuff that has slowed you down and run the race that is marked out for you.
The Message
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. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in.
Bless you
Andy
A devotional by Pastor Andy Elmes to inspire you with a godly thought to start your day well. God’s word is indeed the breakfast of champions.
Great Big Life
Empowering People
Andy Elmes
Pastor & Leadership Coach
UK Office:
PO BOX 240
Southsea
PO2 7YE.
+ 44 (0) 2392 342592
