The pain of the marathon
Hebrews 12:12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
It is mornings like this I do believe God has a sense of humor. Yesterday I spent the day on a dirt bike racing around in the woods, and even had a pretty bad crash that I am feeling the soreness of today. This morning in prayer I thanked God for the joy and safety of yesterday, and I felt led to go to Hebrews 12. This chapter in the Bible speaks of the race of faith, the discipline & trials of faith, and all that we must endure as a part of it. I laughed as I came to verse 12 above; for God knew exactly how I was feeling today. I even wrote in my Bible “almost funny after dirt bike crash” beside this scripture.
Living the Christian life is not going to be easy. Hebrews 12 points us to all the evidences of that. The author of Hebrews sets our life of faith as an endurance race; we must possess the strength to make it to the end, not the speed of the short sprint. We must focus our eyes on the goal of the prize that awaits us in eternal paradise; a life with God; a life without sin; a life without pain; as perfect a life as you can possibly imagine cannot grasp the rewards of heaven. If you begin to grasp the power of the Cross, and what Christ endured there, you will be drawn to the understanding that all you must endure is small. 3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. There is strength that comes in that understanding of the Cross. That humble feeling you get in the pit of your stomach, is a gratitude that gives you strength to endure the temporary for the eternal reward.
Hebrews 12:3-11 speaks directly to how God disciplines those that he loves. Of how our earthly fathers perform the expected same, yet do we believe our heavenly Father will not? Our Father knows us better than anyone for He created us, and He knows where we need disciplining. This too is painful for a time, but in it he desires to make us more like Christ. If you claiming Christ, knowingly living in sin; yet God seems to be letting you slide without discipline; you should be very afraid. 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. (ESV) Claiming Christianity carries no weight; there must be evidence in your life. Your claim may be only your own. Hebrews 12:8 speaks directly in line with Luke 13:27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ Put your eyes on the eternal reward; put your heart on the price Christ paid; strengthen yourself in them for the race of faith that lies before us.
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