Scripture:—Hebrews 12: 1-2
“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 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
We as Christians, we as Believers are runners on a race track. We have prepared for the race; we’re strong, agile, fast, and talented. All these skills and attributes would be enough if we were running a normal race that’s straight down the track to the finish line; instead, we are in the more difficult track event: Long Distance Hurdles.
When hurdles are in the race, you just can’t expect to sprint down the track because you’ll never make it without falling. In this race, there are hurdles that we have to jump over. The first hurdle or challenge is Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” If we keep God our number one priority, the other hurdles in our lives will be easier to leap over. Our minds should be stayed on Him all the time, but we let the enemy creep in and our minds become overpowered by the stress of our daily obligations, the ambiguity of our own selfish ambitions, the fleshy desires of the world, and everything else that takes our minds of Christ. Let’s be real, this is not an easy command to obey, which is why it’s identified as a hurdle. God wants us to work on our relationship with Him, if we make this relationship a priority on our lives, all other relationships will fall into place, or, if God sees fit, some relationships will fall out of place. Nevertheless, this is just the first hurdle on the track, there will be one soon to follow, and another after that, and will continue one right after another. But be encouraged because the first hurdle prepares us to make it over the next hurdles. There will be times that we run with overconfidence, thinking that we’ve got it, so we try to run faster and wind up crashing into the hurdle that we thought we had sized up just right and could out jump.
What happened? What happened is that we lost focus on God and shifted the focus on ourselves and our own strategies toward reaching the finish line. This crash can be embarrassing and humiliating, but the good news is that we can get back up, make some adjustments, and try again. When you get back up from the fall, it allows you to be a witness to the crowd that watched you fall.
Sometimes God will even pull us all the way back to the beginning. In this instance, a step backward is a step forward in the right direction.
Prayer:
Lord, help me to keep my eyes stayed on You, help me to fully devote myself to our relationship, and help me to always be in preparation for the next hurdle…until I finish the race. Amen.
Mariah Dixon
