Hebrews 12:1-2

1 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 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.

Life is filled with decisions and it’s our day to day decisions that draw us closer or farther from God. In Hebrews 12 Paul reveals three decisions that determine a life of depth and significance. Paul starts by reminding us that we are following in the footsteps of the faithful not forging our own path. It is so easy to forget about those who have faithfully gone before us, people who lived life trusting God with every step they took. Their walk is a witness to what works, and if we want to win we need to remember that we are not alone. As Paul pictures life he presents us with a race, not a mad dash but a determined marathon. Today in our world we see the rat race with its relentless running and striving without arriving. But Paul was pointing to a race of purpose not perspiring. The world’s race is about sweat for self to please me where the faith race is about the Father and pleasing the Master. Success is not about climbing the corporate ladder but co laboring with Christ. These pivotal and directional decisions are found in the three “Let us” of Hebrews 12:1-2. “let us throw off everything“ “let us run with perseverance the race” and “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus” The first decision has to do with our preparation as we make an

• Assessment

In the ancient Olympics an athlete would first have to prove that he was a Greek citizen before he could compete. Our first assessment has to do with our nationality, are we a citizen of heaven, have we accepted Jesus as our Savior. You can’t run the race if you don’t know the Redeemer. Without faith you’re born dead and you die dead. It’s better to be born twice and die once than to be born once and die twice. The first assessment has to do with are you a child of God the second what do you carry? Verse 1 says “let us throw off…” That means to remove things that hinder and hold us back. We live in a world that is comfortable with sin, where it is celebrated, a world that encourages people to be engaged in sin, to carry and even care for it. Yet in contrast to our culture Paul calls us to follow the truth and throw off the things that entangle and ensnare. Today we don’t talk about the seriousness of sin and the scares that are unseen. Sin is fun for a season until we suffer. Part of the assessment process involves a period of preparation and preparation involves sacrifice. Paul is calling us to get serious and strip off everything that would cause us to succumb to sin. We all have weights that we seem willing to carry, for some it’s the silent sins or those slight sins that we seem to think are not that bad so we bundle them up and try to run with our baggage.  We are all tempted to take shortcuts, to skip the assessment and just start running. Yet when we do we run to ruin because before long the weight wears us down. What is your sin struggle? Life is not meant to be a cycle of repent and repeat, God wants us to have victory over our sins. When Paul calls us to throw off everything that hinders he doesn’t intend for us to jog around the block and pick it back up. Sin doesn’t just slow us down it takes us down. Preparation not only requires sacrifice but it also requires discipline. There are things that are not necessarily sins but they can still keep us from becoming what God intended us to become. They hinders and slows us down, sometimes they simply side track us from the real race.  One of the biggest hurdles that hold people back are their hurts. It’s easy to get hung up by hurt which hinders our focus and drains our determination. On the other side of the scale our success can become our failure, instead of running we start relaxing. Our strength becomes our weakness as we are tempted to stop and sit back. Pride can become a pit but Paul gives us the antidote in Philippians 3:3:12-13 when he declared: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect… Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.” When he wrote this he had already finished three missionary journeys. In his first trip, Paul went to Galatia where he spent 2 years and after wrote the book of Galatians. In his second trip, he went to Macedonia, Achaia and Greece, that took him three years. After which he wrote two letters to the Thessalonians. In his third trip, he went to Asia and spent four years there writing two letters to the Corinthians. Then Paul wrote his masterpiece, the letter to the Romans and yet he said that he have not arrived so he keep running. Today as you assess, are there any adjustments you need to make? In order to go on is there anything you need to let go of?

2 Corinthians 4:13-18

13 But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” 14 We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. 15 All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

Paul says that we can discover God’s presence all around us, inside and out, if we have the eyes to see. Even in the place of pain we can embrace the reality of God’s new work. As we continue to look at the greater reality in which Paul believed we go from seeing to being willing to:

• Speak

In the Christian life we often focus on big ministries where there is lots of action, yet Paul is calling us to something simple, just share your story, speak up. Paul is saying that if you believe you have to be bold and be willing to talk about it. Faith should flow from our lips. You don’t need a big ministry, you have a big Messiah, stop sitting and start sharing. Has God really changed your life, then share your story. Today you need to ask yourself the question “what is your reality?” Are you stuck in the “death and taxes” mentality where everything is difficult and depressing, or do you know a different reality? It is so easy for us to forget what the Father has done, to get focused on the temporary instead of the truth. It’s easy for us to speak about our success, what we have accomplished, yet Paul’s speech was not about self but the Savior. Paul chose to focus on the finished work of the Father not the feeble work we do.  Paul’s message for us today is to go and speak about the One who saved us. As His people we are called to proclaim His praise. Speak about the Savior, talk about your faith and share the glory of God so that others might glorify God with you. Paul reminds us that we serve a risen Savior. We are a resurrected people being renewed every day, there is life abundant and more to come. Paul believed, so he spoke, what you believe should bubble over. Paul is trumpeting the triumph of God, He has already won and it’s time for Christians to embrace the truth that we are living in the dawning of God’s coming reign. Christ is coming so regardless of sickness or suffering we are victorious. God’s presence and triumph is all around us, it is both internal and external. The resurrected Christ renews us from the inside out and at the very same time, God is continually creating in our midst, and before our very eyes, His kingdom on earth. Paul wants us to understand what’s going on within us and what is happening all around us, and then he wants us to talk about it. “And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.” Paul is speaking out of the reality of his own heart about what God has done in His life, and like the Psalmist, says that the end result is more praise to the Redeemer. Why should we speak, because the more people that praise God, the more the world is taking the shape it was meant to have. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. The goal is His glory and we can’t keep silent we must speak, no shout His praise. God is actively at work in your life, renewing you every day, its not good enough just to soak that up on your own. Our faith obligates that we speak because “we know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself” Don’t forget to remember and as you do, speak up. So, today will you speak?