Simply put, there are some days that are not going to be banner days. There are some days when productivity is going to cease because of equipment failures. There are some days the DOW Jones is going to be down. There are some days when health, wealth, and what seemed like a firm footing with begin to turn as shifting sand underneath your feet.
On those days, same as all the other days, our instructions are given: “run with endurance.” First, run. Yes, run. Do not breast the tape at a snails pace, but rather join in with the captive prisoners, Paul and Silas in a Philipian jail, shackled to pillar and post, blazing fast in the courts of the Most High God with a song of praise and triumph before their King! Yes, run.
Secondly, endure. Endurance is not produced overnight. A year ago when I began my personal journey to healthier living, I could not endure the entire cycle at a running pace on the treadmill. But a year later, I can. Intentionally turn your face to the King of kings on days you feel like it and on days you don’t. Seek the Lord, pray to know His heart. Ask Him to make you the kind of man or woman, father or mother, son or daughter that He wants you to be. Be so disciplined to Godly living that you beat the alarm to the scheduled time that you have set aside to hide in your closet and pray.
Lastly, how are we to accomplish all of this? Do we run in our own strength? Do we endure by our own power? No, greater men and woman have fallen to despair because they attempted to follow the Lord out of their own strength. The apostle who considered himself late for the party, after listing all of his credentialing (Phil 3), made the statement: “I count it all as loss for the all-surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus!”
And that, brothers and sisters is how we are to run the race set before us with endurance. Just a verse later, Hebrews 12:2, the statement that begins in verse 1 comes to a conclusion: “Fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of your faith who for the joy before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and now is sat down at the right hand of the Father.”
We are not to look to a Christ on the cross, we are not to look to a little man on a crucifix, but rather, we are to look to a risen and victorious Savior-King with fire and a sword proceeding from His mouth and eyes. We are to look to Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, the One begins the work, and the One who is just and faithful to bring it to completion! To Him alone be all glory and power and dominion forever and ever, Amen!
John's 