GETTING IN BETTER RUNNING SHAPE FOR 2023
The first thing you want to do when you line up on the starting line of a marathon is to check and make sure you haven’t tied some weights to yourself, and aren’t dragging 135 lbs on a rope secured to your waist. I asked my cousin who runs a lot of marathons, and he confirmed, this is the first thing he does. Running with weights tied to you is a sure fire way to make things harder for yourself. Running a marathon, or any race, is a battle. You dont’ need self inflicted restraints - there’s going to be plenty of resistance on the course.
The bible has a lot to say about running races. Its often used as a metaphor for a life dedicated to following the teachings and practices of Jesus.
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. (Acts 20:24)
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24)
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race , I have kept the faith (2 Tim 4:7)
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Those last two verses are my main point for this post.. you have to shed the weight to run the race.
Lets Flesh it out
In Hebrews 12:1-2, the author makes the observation that there are two important steps to take to be able to “run with endurance”.
“Lay aside every encumbrance” << Self inflicted hinderances
“Lay aside.. the sin which so easily entangles us” << Competition induced hinderances
Self inflicted hinderances
The author of Hebrews uses the greek word apotithēmi, translated for us here as “lay aside”. Other interpretations of that word are “cast off”, “put away”. He then uses ogkos, translated as “encumbrance”. Which is defined as a mass (as bending or bulging by its load), i.e. burden (hindrance):—weight. “Lay aside every encumbrance” then takes on the connotation of casting off, shedding, dropping that heavy bulging load of burdens thats weighing you down and hindering your progress. Thats some of the most common sense advice for runners ever written right there. Which begs the question, why does that need to be said at all?
The journey of life from unbelief to belief in Jesus is paradigm shifting, life changing, and eternally consequential. However, it does not cause the new believer to be instantly changed into this perfect person. Your sins are forgiven, but the weight remains. Its why Paul says “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” - notice the effort and duration in his language.. fought, finished, kept. He’s been running for a while.
As a believer in Jesus, Im often impressed at the amount of self inflicted hinderances I am unknowingly allowing to interrupt my attempt to be with Jesus, do what Jesus did, and be more like Him. My business in my career can sometimes (often) be so front of mind, that when I come home at the end of the day, I don’t put the attention I should into my kids. Looking back on it, is God more pleased that I have answered all my emails and have all inquiries responded to, or would he rather i spend time loving my children by playing and interacting with them? Is me reflecting the love of God to those around me best categorized by “inbox zero” or “playing superhero”?
Here’s another. My love of order. When everything is in its place and put away I am able to fully relax and enjoy the unmerited blessings God has poured out on me. I absolutely love organization and efficiency. I know where everything is, or at least where it should be. When things are sorted and put where they belong, and nothing is out of place, dopamine courses through my veins and I feel ALIVE. Have I also mentioned I have 3 daughters? These daughters of mine thrive on chaos. If its not a massive mess of toys, they make it their mission to make it so. The barbies look great all stacked up in that tote.. but Dad, how can they play hide and seek if they arent spread out all over the house? Lets put all the cushions back on the couch please.. but Dad, how can we get from the living room to the kitchen? The floor is lava!!
Business and tidiness are two of a million examples I could come up with, but it immediately exposes the problem. Those things dont sound bad right? Having a busy life and an organized house is the American dream, right? Thus the need for the author of Hebrews to remind us that when you decide to follow Jesus, the first thing you should do is cast off that bulging mass of burdens that are hindering you from running the race He has called you to. Being with Jesus, becoming like Jesus, and doing what Jesus did is the race strategy for all runners. Anything in your life that prevents you from becoming better at those goals, needs to be laid aside. The self-awareness to shed those weights is super lacking, but every once in a while, I spot one and throw that weight off. I don’t lay it aside, I sling that sucker four lanes over.
Competition Induced Hindrances
The second thing the author of Hebrews instructs us to do as we run the race, is to lay aside the “hamartia ho euperistatos”, or sin which so easily entangles us. The Greek here is indicating the sin in our lives skillfully surrounds us. The image being drawn is that of a competitor thwarting a racer in every direction. God despises sin because it separates Him from His creation. He remedied this by sending His son Jesus to die on the cross as payment for the sins of all mankind, and thus restoring the relationship to anyone who would put their faith in the sacrifice of Jesus. Sin, however, is cunning even still in the lives of those whose sin God sees no more. To have placed your faith in Jesus is not to say you stop sinning. You WANT to sin less, you repent from the sinful nature that still rages inside of you. Satan has lost the battle for your eternal soul, so now he begins phase 2 of his attack - thwarting you from all directions.
The problem is the thwarting is subtle, it’s not spiritual Terry Tate: Office Linebacker, just blindsiding you while you go about your day to day. Satan is way more cunning, and way less obvious.
Jesus noted that Satan would use “the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things” to cause us to run the race poorly, because they “choke the word, making it unfruitful.” (Mark 4:19) and John said “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16) is what Satan uses to trip us up and crowd our track, making the love of God an afterthought, rather than front of mind, if we even take time to think about it at all.
The commands of God (we continue to fail to uphold) are given to us because He knows if we follow them, the race will be easier. Sin trips, slaps, bumps, slows, grabs, and sometimes straight up Terry Tate’s us in life. If Satan can’t have you, he doesnt’ want you to show any kind of promise in the race, because others may start asking you for some tips as they try to figure out why they are having such a hard time running.
Getting to the finish line
The author of Hebrews encourages all believers with the fact that the whole group of people in Hebrews 11 (the Hall of Faith) is cheering us all on. We have their stories to act as case studies for all of us. We look at the lives of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel and can see that their lives were centered on faith in God, not in the day to day concerns, their bank accounts, keeping up with the Jones’s, doing what felt good, or impressing people they don’t like with things they don’t need.
Run with endurance, like all those before you. We all want to see the fruit of our labor, but the thing about faith, is its the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. All those faith heroes before us, ran their race to the very end, but they only saw the finish line on the horizon:
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:39-40)
The future for the believer is too bright to look at. The promise of grace is that the believer is clothed in the righteousness of Christ. You can’t see it now of course, but when God looks at you, He does. Thats the faith we have. So we run after that future -
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, (Titus 2:11-13)
Fleshed out
We get so easily distracted, and so easily busy, that the life changing transformation of our souls when we come to faith in Jesus, becomes camouflaged just enough that no one notices the change. The charge is to “run the race and finish the task the Lord Jesus gives us”- “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Mark 28:19)
The way we do it to the best of our ability is by getting out of our own way by casting off the self inflicted hinderances and being keenly aware that there is opposition who is trying desperately to limit our effectiveness in our God given mission. The course has a lot of turns, elevation change, unpredictable weather, pot holes, tree roots, and surely a cramp or two. Its not about being the fastest, best dressed, most prepared, or carb loaded. Its about endurance.
Lace up, and run after Him… everything else is just a dead end.