We’re kicking off Missions Conference at church this week, and we’ve already had missionaries speak. Yesterday morning the first missionary taught from Hebrews 12:1-3 about running the race.
The missionary reminded us that this race is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Marathons require a lot of hard work, patience, and endurance because they go on for so long. And another thing to think about because a marathon can be so grueling: Not everyone who signs up for a marathon plans to win, but they do plan to finish. Finishing is the important part. The missionary pointed out that sometimes we Christians get so fixated on the past point of Jesus saving our souls and the future point of being Heaven with Him, that we forget about the race in the middle we’re supposed to be running!
When you race, you have a set course you’re supposed to follow. If you take shortcuts or go off course, you don’t win or finish, even if you cross the finish line. So you don’t focus on the finish line, you focus on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2).
Focusing on Jesus helps you to endure, since He’s the example you can follow. This is not going to be a fun race every step of the way, and there will be times we don’t enjoy it at all. But we keep going because of the good it’s doing, because of what we accomplish by the end.
You also need to pace yourself in this race. It can be easy to just take off running at full speed, but then you wear yourself out well before the end and can’t go on for a while. Related to pacing, don’t run alone! Run with others! You can help each other find a good pace, and you can encourage and help each other along the way, making running that much more bearable!
Another thing you need in order to run this marathon is to set aside the weight (Hebrews 12:1). The obvious weight is sin, but we can carry other weight that isn’t sin. The missionary gave an example: A runner shows up with a unique cloak and a banner so you can tell them apart from the other runners before the race. But when it’s time to race, you put the cloak and banner aside so you can run. The missionary then gave an example from his own life: When God called him to the mission field, he had to sell his house and leave his current church ministry. Generations of his family grew up in that house, and he was doing a lot of good in that ministry. It isn’t wrong to have a house or a ministry, but if he wanted to be where God wanted him to be, he had to let go of them both so he could go forward to what God had for him instead. Even if it isn’t normally bad, anything that hinders you from running freely and at your best is something you need to lay aside. Then the missionary pointed out that you don’t lay things aside like you put dishes in the dishwasher to go pick up and use again, you lay them aside to leave them behind.
Related:
Looking to Jesus
Running the Race
Carrying Less Weight
Laying Aside the Weight
Working on Running
Missionaries are People, Too