Running Your Race

Turn with me to Hebrews 12 and look at the last part of verse one: “… let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

Each one of us is running a race. And many of us don’t know it. Whether we are sons of God on our way to an eternity with our Father, or whether we are sons of Adam with a sin nature, who are on their way to the lake of fire. All of us are in a race.

Think about the term “race” as living out your life. We are either going to live out our lives for Jesus or we are not. Living a life for Jesus means we have accepted Him as Lord and Savior of our lives and are willingly and obediently serving Him. And ladies and gentlemen, this is truly the race that matters. Any other race will lead to eternal separation from Jesus, His Father and the Holy Spirit.

But many Christians – dare I say most – are not running the race that God has planned for them from before the foundations of the world. While they are not in sin, they are running races of their own choosing – races that will not bring them into the fullness of what their Father has prepared for them.

They are running races that will keep them “in a wilderness” that’s within reach of their “Promise Land,” just like the children of Israel, who were in the wilderness for 40 years and were literally just miles away from the land the Lord had promised to them through Abraham.

What is the Christian’s promised land? It’s everything that’s included as being a son or daughter of God. Our material and financial needs being met. Healing for our bodies and minds. Prayers answered.

Some of us are running the race that our Father specifically designed for us and some of us are not. For those who are not, how can they know that they are not?

And most importantly, how can they get into the race their Father has designed for them?

We find the answer to the second question in Hebrews 12. But, let’s begin with the first question, shall we?

How can we know we are not in the race our Father has designed for us? Are there standards, mile markers, that can help us? Yes sir. Yes ma’am.

Let’s begin with what I call “mile markers” that will help us see if we are running the race our Father has designed for us to run. I’m going to talk about four of them and they are only examples. There are so many mile markers for the person running the race his or her Father has designed for them.

Let’s begin with John 14:12.

In John 14:12, Jesus says “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto My Father.” Most read this verse and think about Jesus opening blind eyes, healing the sick, restoring lame legs, casting out devils, etc. And all of these are part of the “works” that He did.

But the key to doing the works is found in the phrase “He that believeth on Me.” In verse six, Jesus says “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man (without exception) cometh unto the Father, but by Me.”

Jesus says He is the only way to God. Jesus says He is the truth of God. And Jesus says He is the life that God sent to save the lost. If we aren’t willing to accept and believe that “only Jesus” is the way, the truth and the life, and are willing to sacrifice everything for Him, we are not in the race our Father has designed for us to run.

Mile Marker #1: We have an unmovable belief in Jesus and who He says He is.

The first verse of John 14 also identifies another mile marker for those who are running the race designed for them by their Father. Verse one says “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” Now jump down to verse 27. Jesus repeats “Let not your heart be troubled” and adds “neither let it be afraid.”

The word troubled means “to stir up, trouble, disturb with various emotions such as fear” and the word afraid means “to be fearful”. If our minds are in turmoil, unrest or fear then we are not in the race our Father has designed for us to run because Jesus left us with complete access to His peace.

Mile Marker #2: Jesus’ peace is a constant in our lives

Turn with me to Luke 19. In Luke 19:10, Jesus says “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.” Jesus’ sole purpose for leaving heaven was to give the dead – those living in darkness because of the sin nature – an opportunity to say “yes” to the life of light that removes the darkness and leads to an eternity with Him. And He did this knowing that most of the world would reject Him and the gospel of the kingdom.