Run with endurance

 

I have always loved Track and Field.  I loved it when I ran track.  I loved it when my son ran track.  He was much better than I was.  He ran the 400-meter hurdles.  That is a tough one.  I ran sprints.  I have never been much for endurance.  Maybe it was my short stature or lung capacity.  Maybe I just lacked fortitude.  I have always been the kind of person who loves to work hard for short periods of time.  Unfortunately, I have learned the Christian life is not a sprint, it is an endurance race.

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, (Hebrews 12:1)

 ὑπομονή, ῆς, ἡ (ὑπομένω)- the capacity to hold out or bear up in the face of difficulty, patience, endurance, fortitude, steadfastness, perseverance^[1]

Endurance is a primary theme in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews.  We are encouraged to lay aside every weight that could be slowing us down.  Endurance presupposes opposition.  The term in the Greek language assumes difficulty or opposition.  When everything is going smoothly endurance is not needed.  It is when we are facing real adversity that endurance makes the difference. 

…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 12:2)

 Jesus is our perfect example of extreme endurance.  He endured the cross.  He endured rejection and antagonism. He is the author and perfecter of faith.  He is the starting line and the finish line- and He stays with us all during the race.  The book of Hebrews was written to a church of Jewish Christians (most likely) who had experienced severe persecution.  They had suffered greatly- “a great conflict of suffering; a public spectacle; reproaches and tribulations; imprisonment; property seized” (Heb 10:32-34) They were called to endurance.  They were encouraged to live by faith.

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

 Just like those Jewish Christians, we are encouraged to endure during hard times. We are encouraged by the example of Jesus Christ.  We are also encouraged by “so great a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1a)

Hebrews chapter eleven has been called “the hall of faith.”  It lists the great men and women of the faith throughout the Old Testament: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Rahab to name a few.  In every case their faith prompted them toward unusual action. 

And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. (Heb 11:32-35) Their faith was active, not passive. 

 In other cases, Old Testament saints showed unusual endurance.

 Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. (Heb 11:35b-38)

 The writer of Hebrews makes a strong and encouraging point.  When we truly live by faith we will show exceptional endurance. 

 None of us, or very few, have experienced the level of opposition and adversity we see throughout the Bible.  But Old and New Testament saints serve as great encouragement to us today as we face persecution and opposition for our faith.  No one said it would be easy.  Jesus never promised life as a leisurely stroll in the park.  He told us it would be an endurance race, not a sprint, but a long-distance challenge- a life of faith.

 

 

 

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^[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 1039.