Hebrews 12:1 “…Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us…”
Our Christian life is likened to a race. We need to run with ‘patient endurance’. It’s not a sprint to the finish, but more like a marathon. Along the way we should encourage each other, for so often we may feel like giving up, but we need to keep pressing on. We need to get rid of anything that will weigh us down. No athlete wears heavy clothing and weights while running their race. Likewise, in the spiritual, we also need to be dressed appropriately for the race and throw off the things that would hold us back and weigh us down, so that we may be able to finish the race.
Another interesting point is that it says to run the appointed course of the race that is set before us. We are running being our race, we are not to run somebody else’s race.
With endurance, let us run our race, pressing forward with a steady pace.
