RUN RIGHT
Opening Prayer
Holy Spirit, please pinpoint habits or attitudes that hinder my faith journey.
Read Hebrews 12:1–13
12 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 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
God Disciplines His Children
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a]
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,”[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 12:6 Prov. 3:11,12 (see Septuagint)
- Hebrews 12:13 Prov. 4:26
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Have you ever run a 5K or a marathon?The metaphor of a race is applied to our faith journey. This is no 100-meter sprint, an explosive spurt that’s soon over. Rather, we run a grueling marathon that calls for great endurance (1b; Hebrews 10:32–36). It is exhausting, but also exhilarating, for we are running a race whose goal is not a finish line but a person – Jesus, ‘the pioneer and perfecter of faith’ (2b). The writer of Hebrews coaches us on how to run right.
First, run light. Sportswear companies vie with one another to produce the lightest possible clothing and shoes for athletes. To run right requires us to be ruthless about ridding our lives of ‘everything that hinders’ or ‘entangles’ (1b) – not only sin, which trips us up in our faith-walk, but even good things that may hold us back from a single-minded pursuit of what is best. Second, eyes on the prize – we run ‘fixing our eyes on Jesus’ (2a). Third, be encouraged by the innumerable trailblazers who have gone before us (1a), and above all, by Jesus, who is not only our end, but our finest example (2b,3). Finally, endure the rigorous training necessary to ready us for a tough race (5–11).
Apply
Be encouraged! It is Christ who shows you the way, spurs you on, equips, and empowers you to endure – and stands at the finish line to embrace you at the journey’s end. Take heart; run the race today.
Closing prayer
My Savior, thank You that You are right beside me all the way. Infuse my feeble body with Your glorious strength.
Book and Author Intros
Extras
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.