Mensa Otabil - Let Us Run (11/01/2025)
Welcome to a brand new week, and this week we are talking about the Christian life as a race-a race that we must run and a race that we must win. So we start from Hebrews 12, verse 1: «Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, 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.»
The Christian life is likened to a race, and in this passage in the book of Hebrews, the race that is in mind here in the natural was the Roman races. The Roman races were normally held in a place called a stadium, similar to what we call a stadium today, and a stadium was called a stadium because of its length; its length was equal to a stadium. A stadium was about 600 Greek feet, and that distance was a stadium, which is why it was called a stadium. So, anytime you go to a stadium, that’s why it’s called a stadium. The stadium in the Greek world or in the Roman world had tiers, just like ours, on the sides, and the race was held, and people ran in the middle while spectators were cheering.
The competitors would go through a lot of training, just like races now, and normally they would go through a lot of training to shed off fat so that there would be no weight when they were running. Then, on race day, they would take off their clothes because the clothes could be a hindrance to their speed. So not only do they shed off the fat, they also shed off their clothes so that there would be no hindrance. It is that analogy that informs this verse when it says, «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.» Just as there were spectators in the stadium cheering the runners on, in the Christian life, we also have people whose lives cheer us on and whose lives encourage us.
In Hebrews chapter 11, there has been a long list mentioned of men and women of faith, from Abraham, Abel, Noah, and all these great people of faith. Now Hebrews 12 says that these are the people in the stands cheering us on. Now, in what way are they cheering us on? They’re cheering us on by their lives, by their examples, and the testimonies they left behind. So when we are running our race, we consider a person like David and how he faced Goliath and how he overcame. We consider a person like Noah, who lived in an unrighteous world but kept his relationship with God and righteousness. We consider a person like Abraham, who had to believe God for a very long time to see the promise come to pass. These are the people in the stadium cheering us on, telling us, yes, we are going through difficulties, but we will overcome. They are in the stands cheering us, and so the Bible says, because they are cheering us on, we look at what people have done in the past.
We look at people like Peter and Paul; some of them were crucified, and some were beheaded. We look at all the apostles of Jesus Christ, and we look at all the people in Christendom, and they are cheering us and telling us it’s hard, but you can do it. You can make it; you can live the Christian life. So the Bible says, «Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.» The Christian life has its challenges, but it’s exciting, and it’s doable. It’s doable because others have done it, and they’ve done it under far more difficult conditions than we are dealing with.
So today, as we think about the Christian life and our part in it, let us think of the race that is set before us. Let us think about shedding off all the excess things like sin, weights, behaviors, and habits that hinder us from living the Christian life. Let us consider the testimony of those who have gone ahead of us, who are cheering us on to finish the course and to live for the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us run this race successfully in Jesus' name. Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, I lay aside every hindrance to my Christian life. Help me to run the race that is set before me. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»