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He is the one who by his life has given us life (John 5:21), and has sent the Spirit - the Helper - to be with us forever (John 14:16).

He has left us an example that we might follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:21).Īs our help, Jesus is the one from whom we draw power. He has lived faithfully in this world, trusting the Father and yielding to his will. As an example, Jesus is the forerunner who has charted the course. Jesus is our encouragement in this race, both as our example and as our help. The word translated “looking” in Hebrews 12:2 has the idea of zeroing our gaze on something with confidence. But what does that mean? What does it mean to look to Jesus and offer our hearts completely to him? We run the race of faith looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of our faith.

And in verse 2 he tells us how: looking to Jesus. The writer to the Hebrews has encouraged us to run the race of faith with endurance (Hebrews 12:1). And in a sense, it’s the same way in the Christian life. And it was only this picture - this goal - that fueled me forward.

I had to envision crossing the finish line on lap four. It was one, then two, then - when is this going to end? After practicing and failing enough times, I figured out that the best way to get it done was to imagine the destination. At least in baseball there is a home, and once you hit a base you don’t go back. The hard part for me was the four (seemingly meaningless) circles. All winter long hopeful players would train for “the 6:30.”īut I never really liked running, especially not around a track. He knew how to win and was well respected, and since he had set the 6:30 rule early in his career, it had become something of an adage in our community. In order to play baseball at my high school you had to run a mile in under six minutes and thirty seconds. 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, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector 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.