Sunday, August 14, 2016

Hebrews 12: 1-4

Brothers and sisters:
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us
and persevere in running the race that lies before us
while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,
the leader and perfecter of faith.
For the sake of the joy that lay before him
he endured the cross, despising its shame,
and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.
Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners,
in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart.
In your struggle against sin
you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

For far too many of us our religion, our faith, is often secondary to our lives instead of being the driving factor behind our lives. We fit faith in where we can. We do the minimum to meet our obligation to God, if that.

Christians should never be of the mindset of how little they can do. Jesus did not just meet the Law as the Pharisees did. Jesus fulfilled the Law. He exceeded it. He showed by example how to put God first and live life with that end goal in mind.

We make time to eat. We make time to sleep. We make time to watch our favorite shows on TV. How many of us make time to pray? How many of us use Sunday as our only God time and then feel that it is an inconvenience?

Let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us.

We were made by God for God and, God willing, we will spend eternity with him at the end of this age. Let us rightly put God first in our lives and not just an afterthought or something we squeeze in. Let us ask how much more we can do and not what the bare minimum is. Let us remain strong and not grow weary or lose heart.

Let us run this race to the end.