Running the Race

Hebrews 12:1 “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

I sometimes forget that I am running in a race.  I think of it for other people, particularly when they are in a difficulty.  I  pray things like, “Lord help them in this race that You have given to them.”  I see myself on the side line cheering them on, forgetting that I am not to be on the side lines.  I too have been given a race to run.  And the terrain of my race course changes daily.  I get stuck often in my routine and what I call the “daily dailies.”  I get discouraged because I mess up in the everyday activity.  I make little choices that I think won’t matter because they are “little” or they are made in my thoughts and no one else sees them.  There I can rationalize away my sinful ”little” attitudes and even tell the Lord that it is okay why I did not obey Him; I had a very good reason.   But really, that is just a lie I have swallowed by the good old father of lies, Satan.  

I love my devotion book, At the Feet of Jesus.  (I’m sure you’ve heard me say that a time or two before).  It’s not a woman’s words but God’s words that jump off the pages to me in new understanding. Like the definition for the word weight in the verse above, it’s not a big sinful lifestyle or addiction in my life…it’s the choices made in my “daily dailies” that hinders me in my race.  This quote from Ray Ortlund truly gripped my soul this morning~

“Your danger and mine is not that we become criminals, but rather, that we become respectable, decent, commonplace, mediocre Christians…The twenty-first century temptations that really sap our spiritual power are the television, banana cream pies, the easy chair, and the credit card.  Christian, you will win or lose in those seemingly innocent little moments of decision”

“Win or lose in those seemingly innocent little moments of decision!”  Those words convicted me!  As I was thinking on them, God brought to my mind the hymn, “Whiter Than Snow”.  The way to get back in the race, is by coming to Him in repentance and receiving His cleansing.

Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;
I want Thee forever to live in my soul.
Break down every idol, cast out every foe-
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow

Lord Jesus look down from Thy throne in the skies
And help me to make a complete sacrifice.
I give up myself and whatever I know-
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus for this I most humbly entreat
I wait blessed Lord, at Thy crucified feet.
By faith, for my cleansing I see Thy blood flow-
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus, Thou seest I patiently wait;
Come now and within me a new heart create.
To those who have sought Thee Thou never saidst “No”-
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

Gotta go get my running shoes on!