There is a legendary tale about the late Bear Bryant, who coached the University of Alabama football team from 1958 to 1982. In one game, with two minutes to play, he called on his slow-but-steady, fourth string quarterback. Bryant instructed him to run the ball up the middle and then punt.
However, the new quarterback stunned the opposition with repeated first-down runs. Deep in his opponent’s territory, temptation overcame instruction. He had never had an opportunity to throw a touchdown pass. So, disregarding his coach, he threw the ball. The opposing safety intercepted and broke into the clear. The sluggish quarterback struggled to find his feet, but he started chasing the fastest man on the field and tackled the safety just before the goal line. The gun sounded. The game ended.
The opposing coaches met at mid-field. Bryant’s competition shook his head in disbelief. He said, “How could a fourth-string quarterback catch my swiftest safety?”
“That’s easy,” Bryant responded. “Your man was running for a touchdown. My man was running for his life.” (T. T. Crabtree, Pastor’s Manual, Zondervan, 1985, p.259)
The Bible says that you are in a race for your life. The question is: How do you win that race? How do you complete the race that God has laid out for you? How do you finish your life well? Well, if you have your Bible, I invite you to turn with me to Hebrews 12, Hebrews 12, where the Bible shows us how to win the race of life.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us… (ESV)
Literally, let us run with endurance the race that is laid out before us. God lays out a specific race for every believer. Your race is not my race. My race is not your race. Each believer’s race is unique. That is to say, God does not call every believer to do the same things in life. However, He does call every believer to persevere, to finish his or her particular race well.
Think of Judas. Judas started well. He decided to follow Jesus. He heard Jesus teach. He even went out two by two with the other disciples, healing the sick and casting out demons. Judas did everything the other disciples did. But in the end, he betrayed Jesus, and that’s how everybody remembers him. How you end your life is absolutely crucial, because that defines everything that has gone before.
Os Guinness talks about his last visit to John R. W. Stott three weeks before Stott died. Guinness calls Stott “one of the greatest Christian leaders of the last century”, whom he had known over many decades. Of that last visit, Guinness says, “After an unforgettable hour and more of sharing many memories over many years, I asked him how he would like me to pray for him. Lying weakly on his back and barely able to speak, he answered in a hoarse whisper, ‘Pray that I will be faithful to Jesus until my last breath.’” Then Guinness adds, “Would that such a prayer be the passion of our generation too.” (Os Guinness, Impossible People, IVP Books, 2016; www.PreachingToday.com)
So how do you do that? How do you remain faithful to Jesus until your last breath? How do you run with endurance the race that He laid out for you? Well, you start when you…
LEARN FROM THE WITNESSES OF THE PAST.
Study the men and women of faith who have gone before. Let their lives instruct and inspire you to remain faithful to Jesus even when life gets hard.
Verse 1 says, “We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.” These are not spectators in the stands, watching us run the race. These are the men and women of Hebrews 11. The “therefore” points back to the previous chapter. These are the people of faith, who bear witness to the grace and power of God, which sustained them in life.
Joey Lee was in the race of his life—the 150-mile Marathon Des Sables, across the Moroccan Sahara Desert. On day four, Lee was still running, though other runners had already been airlifted out after surrendering to the heat or to physical exhaustion.
About 80 miles into the race, the air pockets in the soles of Lee's running shoes blew out, apparently from the heat. Lee was left with almost nothing to protect the soles of his feet as he ran over the sand and jagged rocks. Although he carried a backpack of provisions, it contained no extra shoes. His feet were blistered, his body exhausted from the 100-degree-plus temperatures. His eyes burned from the sand and sweat.
Facing another 30 miles to run that day and 40 more miles over the next three days, Lee refused to quit. The only sight ahead of him was the miles of desert, and the massive dunes he would have to overcome, but he pressed on. Three days later, Lee finished the race in the middle of the pack of 600 other runners.
Joey Lee was running for a reason. His young wife, Allison, had died almost a year and a half earlier after a long battle with cancer. Lee was running in memory of his wife and to raise money for the American Cancer Society.
Ignoring the mental and physical obstacles he faced, he finished the race. Afterward, when asked what kept him going, he replied, “I just thought about Allison a lot. This is nothing compared to what she went through.” (The Clarion Ledger, 4-18-04; www.PreachingToday.com)
Who inspires you to keep going? Who inspires you to finish your race? Learn from them, and if you cannot think of anybody right now, start with the heroes of Hebrews 11 – people like Noah, Abraham, and Moses. They were people like you and me, who depended on God to bring them through some very difficult times. As a result, they were able to finish their races well.
If you want to finish your life well, 1st, Learn from the witnesses of the past. Then 2nd…
LAY ASIDE THE WEIGHTS OF THE PRESENT.
Shed those things that slow you down and trip you up. Get rid of anything that keeps you from doing your best. Like you do a heavy overcoat…
Take off anything that weighs you down. Verse 1 says, “Lay aside every weight.” Some runners train with weights tied to their ankles; but when they get ready to run in a race, they have to remove those weights. In life, these are items that are not necessarily sinful, just items that slow you down in your forward progress.
In ancient days, when the king of Siam had an enemy he wanted to torment and destroy, he would send that enemy a unique gift, a white elephant, a live, albino elephant. These animals were considered sacred in the culture of that day. So the recipient of that elephant had no choice but to intentionally care for the gift. This elephant would take an inordinate amount of the enemy's time, resources, energy, emotions, and finances. Over time the enemy would destroy himself because of the extremely burdensome process of caring for the gift. (Jim Nicodem, "The Gravity of Greed," www.PreachingToday.com)
The enemy of our souls has a similar tactic. He gets us so busy with non-essential items, they take away from the essentials in our lives. Too much time on social media takes time away from real relationships with real people, especially our own families. Servicing too much debt takes away resources that could be used to support your local church or other worthy causes. Too many scheduled activities in the week saps your energy to do those things that are really important in life: things like time alone with the Lord, reaching out to a neighbor, or doing ministry.
None of these items are necessarily “bad” in and of themselves. They’re just “white elephants.” They’re just weights that wear you out and slow you down. They keep you from finishing the race God laid out for you. So if you want to win that race and finish your life well, cut back on some of those things; take off anything that weighs you down.
Then take off doubt and unbelief. Verse 1 says, “Lay aside… sin which clings so closely.” Literally, “Lay aside THE sin which clings so closely,” so as to trip you up. In the original Greek language, there is a definite article in front of “sin” in this verse. That means there is a particular sin the author has in mind; and in this context, that particular sin is the sin of unbelief.
The entire last chapter was all about faith. When you believe, you can be certain of what others cannot be certain; you can see what others cannot see; you can hear what others cannot hear; you can know what others cannot know; therefore, you can do what others cannot do.
When you believe God, you can finish your race well; but when you don’t believe, you get tripped up. When doubt and fear clings so closely to your soul, you stop moving forward; you stop growing. So take it off! Take off the unbelief and run your race!
Pastor Jerry Van Auken of Kokomo, Indiana, talks about a time when his son, Aaron, was five years old. He kept asking his dad to help him climb a very large tree in their backyard. When he first asked, it was too cold. Then finally, it was warm enough to learn how to climb a tree.
Pastor Jerry lifted Aaron onto the tree's lowest branch, but Aaron panicked for fear of falling. Jerry tried to coach him along, telling him to first kneel on the branch, then slowly stand up and climb to the center of the tree. But the only thing Aaron was concerned about was falling. He kept whining and crying, “I'm going to fall! I'm going to fall!”
Jerry was unable to coax him, so he shouted, “Aaron!” Once he got Aaron’s attention, Jerry said, “Don't think about falling; think about climbing.” Aaron thought about that for a moment, and then he proceeded to stand and climb to the center of the tree. His fear was gone, and he was able to do what he wanted.
The next week Aaron wanted to climb the same tree again. This time when Jerry lifted him onto the lowest branch, Aaron said, “Daddy, this time I will think about climbing.” And he did! He climbed confidently right up into the middle of the tree. (Jerry Van Auken, Kokomo, Indiana; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s good advice for life: Don’t think about falling; think about climbing. Take off the doubt; put on the faith, and climb to heights you never thought possible before. Depend on the Lord and keep on growing!
If you want to finish your life well, 1st, Learn from the witnesses of the past. 2nd, Lay aside the weights of the present. And 3rd…
LOOK TO THE WINNER HIMSELF.
Focus on Jesus! Gaze at your Savior, who began and finished the race 2,000 years ago.
Hebrews 12:2 Looking to Jesus [literally, staring at Jesus], the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (ESV)
Jesus is both the founder and finisher of our faith. He is the One who went first and blazed the trail for us all the way to its completion.
So, if you want to finish your life well look to Jesus as your Savior. Trust Him as your rescuer from sin.
Nabeel Qureshi was a Muslim, who became a follower of Christ. He had a Muslim friend, named Sahar, who was attracted to parts of Christianity, but couldn't accept the idea of God becoming a human being. On one occasion Sahar honestly asked Qureshi, “How can you believe Jesus is God if he was born through the birth canal of a woman and that he had to use the bathroom? Aren't these things beneath God?”
Qureshi affirmed her questions and then asked her one in turn: “Sahar, let's say that you are on your way to a very important ceremony and are dressed in your finest clothes. You are about to arrive just on time, but then you see your daughter drowning in a pool of mud. What would you do? Let her drown and arrive looking dignified, or rescue her but arrive at the ceremony covered in mud?”
Her response was very matter of fact, “Of course, I would jump in the mud and save her.”
Then Qureshi asked her another question: “Let's say there were others with you. Would you send someone else to save her, or would you save her yourself?”
She responded, “If she is my daughter, how could I send anyone else? They would not care for her like I do. I would go myself, definitely.”
Qureshi said, “If you, being human, love your daughter so much that you are willing to lay aside your dignity to save her, how much more can we expect God, if he is our loving Father, to lay aside his majesty to save us?”
God’s willingness to despise the shame of becoming a man and enduring cross eventually won Sahar's heart. As Qureshi reported, “The message of God's selfless love had overpowered her, and she could no longer remain a Muslim. She had accepted Jesus as her Savior.” (Nabeel Qureshi, No God But One, Zondervan, 2016, pages 100-101; www.PreachingToday.com)
Please, let the message of God’s love overpower your heart. Accept Christ as your Savior. Trust Jesus with your life and gain eternal life today! If you want to finish your life well, look to Jesus as your Savior.
More than that, look to Jesus as your example. He went before you to open the way for you. All you have to do is follow Him!
Stuart Briscoe talks about the time when he was in the Marines, training to do cliff assaults as a commando. He says, “The theory was that a commando raid should be a surprise, done as quickly and as silently as possible on the area with the lightest defenses. The lightest defense is at the point where attack is least expected. More often than not, it was the cliffs.”
They would come close to the cliff in their small boats and fire one rocket up through the darkness. Attached to the rocket was a grapnel. Attached to the grapnel was a light rope. When the rocket landed on top of the cliff, the grapnel would lie on the grass. They would then pull it back gently until it caught on something, hoping it caught on something secure.
Among them were expert climbers, who were like spiders. One of the climbers would get out of the little boat onto the seaweed-strewn rocks and scale those cliffs in the dark hanging onto this thin, little rope that was on the end of a grapnel he hoped was hanging onto something secure.
A bigger rope trailed behind him. Below, the rest of the commandos held onto the rope. When the climber got on the top, he would secure the rope he'd taken up and then give two little tugs on it. The minute the two little tugs came, the rest of the commandos jumped out of their boats, cold and wet on the waves and rocks. They would scale the cliffs. It was a hairy experience, except they had utter confidence in the one who'd gone before them. They had utter confidence in the security of the rope he had fastened for them.
Stuart Briscoe says, “I rejoice to tell you that many times we'd find ourselves totally secure on those cliffs because of the utter reliability of the skilled climber.” (Stuart Briscoe, “Handling Your Insecurities,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 119; www.Preaching Today.com)
That’s the picture we have of Jesus here in Hebrews 12:2. He is the founder and finisher of our faith. He blazed the whole trail all the way to the top, and He invites you to follow Him with confidence, totally secure in the path He has opened up for you.
Because Jesus opened the way, you too can endure your cross; you too can bear its shame all the way to the joy of your heavenly reward! If you want to finish your life well, look to Jesus as your Savior; look to Jesus as your Example;
And finally, look to Jesus as your inspiration. Let Jesus motivate you to persevere.
Hebrews 12:3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. (ESV)
Pastor Bryan Loritts talks about sitting in a doctor's office with one of his young sons. The nurse needed to draw blood from the boy for a test, but the boy wouldn’t let her. He told his dad, “I can't do it. I just can't do it.”
The nurse said, “Here's the deal, buddy. We've got this numbing spray. We'll spray the numbing spray on you, and then we'll stick the needle in you, and you won't even feel it.”
But the boy kept saying, “I can't do it. I can't do it.”
Finally, Pastor Bryan said to the nurse, “Ma'am, I know what I'm about to ask you may be out of bounds, but can you stick me first? Can you do it without the numbing spray? I just need to show my son.”
She responded, “Yes, I'll do it. We'll keep this between us.”
So Pastor Bryan put his son on his lap and said, “Watch Daddy.” Then he rolled up his sleeve and stuck his arm out. The nurse stuck him and drew blood. A smile came over his son's face. Yes, he was still a little nervous, but when he saw that Daddy already went through what he was about to go through, with no numbing spray, he stuck his arm out. It gave him courage. (Bryan Loritts, from the sermon The Great Exchange, preached at Fellowship Memphis, in Memphis, Tennessee; www.PreachingToday.com)
My dear friends, when you find yourself facing a hard trial, screaming in your heart, “I can’t do it! I can’t do it!” look to the place where they drew Jesus’ blood. Look to the cross, and there find the courage to keep going.
If you want to finish your life well, learn from the witness of the past; lay aside the weights of the present; and look to the Winner Himself – Jesus your Savior, Example, and Inspiration.
O soul are you weary and troubled,
No light in the darkness you see.
There's light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free
Turn your eyes upon Jesus;
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth
Will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace. (Helen H. Lemmel)
