Heb 12:1-3
12:1 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. 2 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. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Heb 11:39-40
39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Good evening and welcome. Come on in and join me for some more thoughts from Dale Sellers' book "Stalled."
The writer of Hebrews talks about running a race in 12:1. "let us run with perseverance..." I have heard pastors and Sunday School teachers use these verses in Hebrews 12 to teach that we do not run a sprint, but that our Christian lives are really a marathon. They said that if we try to sprint through our Christian lives that we would surly suffer from burnout.
I have heard about pastors and church leaders who started out fast and soon faded. I've also seen it with folks who join the church and go gang busters, they are every where and have their fingers in many different pots and then all of the sudden they're gone. The sad thing is nobody seems to know what happened to them.
A marathon where we go steadily along our spiritual journey in face of the alternative sounds like a better option. It definitely sounds like the safer one. I mean head down, putting one foot in front of the other after all slow and steady wins the race, right?
On the other hand Dale has another suggestion for this race we're in. What if it is really a relay? Look at verse 2 of Chapter 12 - "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith," Perfecter in the original language means "to complete, accomplish, carry through to the end..." and now back up to Hebrews 11:29-30 - "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect." We are being made perfect, we are not perfect yet and from what I have seen we will not be perfect until we graduate to heaven. And it is only with the saints that have gone on before us are we made perfect.
So what if Noah passed the relay baton to Abraham and Abraham passed it to Moses, who passed it to Joshua, who passed it Samuel and he passed it to David and so on and so forth. Each generation passing the baton to the next until Christ Jesus returns again as our King. Each generation acknowledging the last and then running head long for God until their race is nearly done. Each generation passing on their experiences, their wisdom, and their love and joy for Christ Jesus to the next.
Pretty cool isn't it. Thanks Dale for this new perspective it definitely gives us something to chew on.
A Panhandle Pastor
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