Run Your Race
We all know it—life isn’t easy.
Challenges can arise that are so difficult, we can be tempted to give up or numb out. Whether it's an overwhelming circumstance, the demands of family life, or the pressures of work, it can sometimes feel like it's just too much.
When we find ourselves wanting to quit, the book of Hebrews gives us a powerful encouragement to hold onto:
"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."
Hebrews 12:1 NIV
“Witnesses” refer to believers who have gone before us, those whose lives are a testament of faithfulness to God. Their stories remind us that we're part of an even bigger narrative, a legacy of faith that spans generations.
This scripture also urges believers to "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles." Hindrances may be easy to see, such as sinful distractions that hold us back from fully running after God. But they may also be internal, like fear and shame. Whatever form they may come in, we're called to throw them off.
And yet, we don't just throw off things that entangle us and sit down. The rest of the verse says, "Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." The call is to keep moving forward, no matter how tough the journey may seem. Guided by grace and fueled by faith, we can press on. We can run the race He's set before us.
Healed by His Wounds
Brokenness. We see it all around us. We experience it ourselves—in our relationships, in our dreams, in our bodies. And yet, something happened over two thousand years ago that still has the power to heal that brokenness.
1 Peter 2:24 says, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed."
Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, took the weight of our sins upon Himself. He carried them to the cross, giving up His life not because of His own wrongdoing, but because of ours. This is the essence of the Gospel. Through His sacrifice, He offered us a path out of darkness and into His light—a life transformed by His grace.
Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we’ve been given a profound healing of our spirits; new life taking the place of sins and darkness that separate us from God. Through His wounds, we are offered forgiveness and a new relationship with God, healed and ...