Have you ever marveled at salvation? This is something I so often forget to do. Have you taken the time to try to understand all Jesus has done for you? Can you grasp the magnitude of God’s love for you?
This week God keeps bringing me back to Hebrews 12:1-4. It even came up three times on Monday!
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. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (In other words, you haven’t been martyred yet so keep fighting sin).
I may not want to turn to my Bible and prayer and community but that is where I will find encouragement to keep going and to keep fighting against sin. That is where I find I am not alone. I am surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses to God’s goodness who have gone before me. Have you noticed those were active verbs? Following Christ is not a passive thing. While I may be tempted to give up I need to remember why I am resisting and why I am trying to stand strong. It is for Jesus. Yet in the fight it is so easy to grow tired. The awesomeness of God provides an eye of the storm, a place of rest and restoration to endure the remainder of the storm (Ex 14:13-14). God provides the strength we need to keep going.
It is in the Bible, in prayer, and in community that I’m encouraged to throw off the weight of sin that so easily ensnares me so I can better run with perseverance the race marked out for us. It was marked out, planned ahead. Life isn’t a weird twist of fate. How encouraging to know God planned where I would live and what I would do and who I would meet (Acts 17:26-27)!
It is in the Bible, in prayer, and in community that I’m encouraged to remove my eyes from the problems availing me and how I feel in the moment and instead turn my eyes to Jesus. Jesus gave everything for me. He gave up heaven for me. He became God in the flesh to hang out with the whiny, snot-nosed, stubborn lot we are. He then died a most horrific death that was so excruciating a word was created to describe the pain (excruciating—Latin “from or of the cross”). Then He came rose from the dead to encourage us and charge us with spreading His name before He returned to heaven. He provided salvation for us. He created a way for our relationship with God to be restored. That is no small feat. It is something we could not do on our own so Jesus came to do it for us.
Now, because of Jesus I don’t have to be ruled by my bitterness. I can throw off the weight of sin that sin easily entangles me and run to Jesus (see He 12:1-3). I don’t have to be ruled by my self-esteem and self-worth issues. I am free to take my eyes from the mirror and instead focus on Jesus. I can find my worth in what He sees in me instead of what I do not see in myself or assume others see in me. What freedom we have in Christ!
