Cue Chariots of Fire Theme

I love running. And by love, I mean that I love two key parts- the part where you turn around to come back, and the part where you’re done. Let’s face it, even for someone who runs a lot, for the most part running is pretty miserable. There’s the occasional run that you’re thinking, “Man, I could Forest Gump this and just run clear across the state,” but usually you’re saying to yourself, “Man, I wish I could just die right now. At least then I’d get to lie down.”

One thing I have learned in running- I run a whole lot faster and a whole lot better in races. Races are just fun. You get up way too early and drive to some random place to exercise, but the funny thing is that hundreds of other people are just as crazy as you and they all show up too. And then, as you go, you find that you’re running faster than you could ever make yourself go on your normal out and back route. The thrill of the race gets a hold of you. You’re making friends with accountants and lawyers and the guy who works at the Jimmy John’s on Pensacola. You find that you can really be friends with these people. You may have had nothing in common on Friday, but on Saturday you’re all runners. And you’re all running the same race. There’s people cheering you on around the last corner and tons of Gatorade as you cross the finish line.

I think whoever wrote Hebrews must have been a runner. I mean, not just the poser runner, the guy who’s out on Mission Road on New Year’s Day with a bunch of electronic gadgets trying to lower his cholesterol a couple of points, but a real runner. Hebrews guy is trying to encourage the Jewish people. So he goes through the hall of fame of faithful guys and girls- Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Noah, Moses, Rahab, David, Samuel- and he lets us know that all of these guys were looking ahead. They knew that God had something special in store for the world, but they were going to have to wait. They “conquered kingdoms, administered justice…shut the mouths of lions, escaped the fury of the flames and the edges of the swords…but they did not gain what had been promised.” Why? “Because God had something better in mind, so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” Because God wants a huge family reunion. The kind with sweet tea and t-shirts.

This is why I think Hebrews guy had laced up some Nike’s before. “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…” He’d felt people spraying you down with sprinklers and DJ’s rocking you up hills. He knew that the halfway point is the hardest. Those first couple miles will get you every time. And he also knew what would keep you going- “fixing our eyes on Jesus...” He knew that when you watch your feet you always go slower. It’s when you lift your head and look towards the goal that you can go your fastest. Looking down or to the side will always slow you down. He knew what it’s like to go up huge hills and feel like your legs just won’t go anymore, and he had a solution for that too- “Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Starting a race isn’t hard. Finishing is another matter entirely. Too many of us start out sprinting only to make it to the first hill and quit. Or maybe we make it through a couple, but the valleys start looking like a good place to stay because it’s too hard to climb another hill. Next time you feel like you’re the only one running, think of the cloud of witnesses- the ones who have gone before and have run long and hard, looking ahead to their reward. Think of Jesus at the finish line. Something way better than Gatorade is waiting.