By Kevin Harris, pastor of the Illawarra Community Baptist Church in Wollongong, NSW
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Hebrews 12:1-3
‘I just want to die.’ Have you ever felt weary, discouraged and faint?
Life can be hard. Sometimes we feel our frailty more than at other times.
The last chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews have much encouragement for weary Christians. We are urged to ‘hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering’ (10:23), to not ‘draw back’ (10:38-39), and to ‘diligently seek’ the Lord (11:6). Chapter 11 consists of a long list of faith-filled followers of the Lord who endured much trouble. Their lives inspire us. We’re exhorted not to ‘faint when thou art rebuked of him’ (13:5) because none of the Lord’s chastenings ‘for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness’ (13:11). We must ‘lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees’ (13:12).
But perhaps the greatest counsel for weakening Christians is found in today’s passage.
How are we to ‘run…the race that is set before us’? The word ‘patience’ here is a favourite of mine. It speaks of ‘cheerful (or hopeful) endurance,’ ‘to stay under,’ stamina. Twice more in this passage we find this word translated as ‘endured.’
When we’re feeling weak and ready to quit, we must not give up. Keep running, making progress toward the finish line.
How are we to do that? The Spirit of God says to attentively look to the Saviour.
If we think life is hard, consider His difficulties! We can only try to imagine the distress, the exertion, the strain He suffered in the lead-up to His crucifixion. Consider His anguish at Gethsemane ‘And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground’ (Luke 22:44).
Fix your eyes on the One who endured Calvary’s disgrace.
How did He get through that ‘contradiction of sinners against himself’? How did He defeat sin, death, hell, and the grave? He focussed on the joy that was set before Him and He despised or fixed his mind against the shame.
He won the physical battle by winning the mental one.
What a Saviour!
Father, I want to be like the Lord Jesus. When I feel at the end of my tether, point me to the Saviour. Thank You for the Master class He gives us on how to cheerfully endure life’s hardships. Help me to follow in His footsteps. Help me to ‘not be weary in well doing.’ I ask this in the Name of the Lord Jesus, Amen.
This article was written by Kevin Harris Dapto pastor of Illawarra Community Baptist Church.