Look to Jesus

Introduction

Life is often called “a rat race.” This is a phrase that seemed to originate in the 1930s. It refers to a fierce, competitive way of life that involves pursuing goals in a repetitive, endless manner. It came from watching laboratory rats working their way through a maze to be the first one to catch the cheese.

Our lives can often feel like we are in some maze just trying to work our way through to a final goal. There are many twists, turns, and dead ends along the way. At times, it is hard to see what the point of it all is.

The Bible speaks about life being a race. It is not a rat race as some have called it, but there is a beginning and a finish line. At the finish line is a prize for those who run the race correctly.

I want to talk this morning about how we can run this race called life and win. The Bible shows us three important tools that have been given to us for victory in the race of life. They are found in .

Hebrews 12:1–2 CSB

Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Preparation for the Race

The author of Hebrews was writing to Christians who were tempted to quit on Jesus and return to an old way of life. We face that temptation often ourselves. It seems at times much easier to just go with the flow rather than run the race of faith that leads to eternal life. The writer here shows us that if we are going to finish this race, we first need to prepare for the race.

Learn from previous racers.

starts out by reminding us that there have been many who have gone before in this race. The “witnesses” mentioned in verse 1 are talking about those in chapter 11. These are the saints who have gone before us.

Some have talked about how those who have gone before are “watching over us” as we live here on earth and used this verse to back that thought up. This is not what this verse is talking about. There is nothing in the Bible that says that those in heaven are looking down on events on the earth. They are in the presence of Jesus and completely consumed with His glory.

It i

The witnessing is the fact that they testify to the truth that the race of faith is worth it.

Lose the weights

Another way we prepare is that we lose the things that will drag us down in this race. It is said that competitive runners train with weights strapped to themselves. When it comes time for the race, they lay those weights aside and are able to run faster and longer.

What are these weights that need to be lost? The first one would be distractions. These are things that seem to drag us down. They may not be sinful things, but they stand in the way of us running with all that we have. We need to recognize these distractions and put them aside if we want to run this race well.

A second weight that is mentioned is the sin that so easily entangles us. We are all sinners by nature. While there may be certain sins that you do not struggle with, there are ones that you do. We must recognize those sins, confess and turn away from them, and set up guards to help keep them out of our path.

Execution of the Race

You can ask any coach and they will tell you that execution is a big key to winning. A team can practice all week long and come up with the perfect plays to score and win, but if they do not execute those plays in the game, they will fail.

The author of Hebrews shows us at the end of how to run the race set before us.

The word that we see in this translation is the word endurance. To win in this race, you must realize that it is not a sprint but more of a marathon. It will not be easy nor quick.

There is a temptation in this race that as you get closer to the finish line to let up and coast to the finish line. We must not do this. Many times the final stretch is the most important part of the race.

Illustration: Runner’s Focus = A track coach encouraged his runners that as they ran the long-distance race, they should focus their attention fully on the back of the leader’s head. They were to do this until they got to the final leg of the race. It was at that point, the runner was to turn their focus to the finish line and break into an all out sprint.

Another way that the word “endurance” could be translated is as patience. The Greek word that the author used means either endurance or patience. Just as endurance is needed, so also is patience. There is a temptation to run ahead of God in situations and not wait on His timing. Part of executing the race properly is waiting on the Lord and staying with Him.

Inspiration for the Race

The author shares with us that when we need a focus or inspiration - and we all do at times - we need to look to Jesus.

Hebrews 12:2 CSB

keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

He is the Author and Perfecter of our faith. If it were not for Jesus, we would not even have faith. He grants us faith to place into Him. Not only does Jesus give us faith, but He perfects that faith within us as well. There has never been something that Jesus started that He didn’t finish.

Philippians 1:6 CSB

I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

He is also our example. We are reminded in verse 2 that Jesus endured the cross. Jesus saw the cross as just a hurdle on the way to the goal = the salvation of sinners. There will be times when hurdles come our way. We need to follow the example of Jesus and look past them to the goal. This will help us to keep going. No one who quits receives the prize. This is not to say that a person can lose their salvation, but it is to say that if a person quits, then they never had it in the first place. Jesus didn’t quit and those whom He saves will also finish the race strong.

Conclusion

This life that we are in is a race. It does not have to be a rat race where we are just trying to work our way through a maze for a piece of cheese. At the end of this race is something far better. We get to fall into the arms of our Lord and spend the rest of eternity with Him. If we do not prepare for this race or execute this race properly or allow ourselves to be inspired by Jesus for this race, then we will not finish. It is too much for us. But thanks be to God, He has given us everything we need for this race… and to win it!