It has been said that the Christian race is a marathon, not a sprint. This reminds us that the destination or finish line of any race determines how the race is run. A hundred-meter sprint cannot be run the way you run a marathon or you will lose. A marathon cannot be run the way you run a 100-meter sprint or you will expend all your energy quickly and you will lose.
The one thing we need to remember about this race we call the Christian life is that the finish line is further than that of a marathon or even a 50 or 100-mile ultra-marathon. The finish line is in heaven! This determines how we should run the race.
Hebrews 12:1-2
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, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Though the race metaphor is one Paul loves to use as a description of the Christian life, our race is unique in that Jesus has already run and finished it for us. Yet we still have to run it, and do so as if it is a marathon.
Hebrews 12 points back to those who have run this race before us and described them as “so great a cloud of witnesses.” Among those names are many we are familiar with: Abraham, Moses, David, and Samuel. We also find Rahab, Gideon, Samson, and others. This great cloud of witnesses included people who had lied, doubted, and been sexually immoral and foolish. Yet they are identified as those who laid aside their weights and sins and kept running.
Philippians 2:12-16
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
Sticking with the athletic metaphor, we might understand what Paul says here, combined with what the writer of Hebrews said in the previous passage, as: Though the race has been run and finished by Christ on our behalf, which assures we will reach the finish line, the Christian life is still a workout. It takes dedication and effort. It takes the laying aside of things that may not sin but are weights that slow or impede our progress. All so we can run with endurance the race that is set before us knowing that God will work in us both to will and to do this for His good pleasure.
The Philippians passage is vital to our understanding of this race and how we are to run it – without complaining and disputing, shining as lights in a dark world while holding fast the word of life. Paul says God’s work in us includes the will to do this for His good pleasure.
Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Anyone who has committed to a workout regimen knows there are days when you don’t feel like running or hitting the gym, but your desire for the results pushes you to go anyway. The same is true of our spiritual race. We may tire at times. We may feel like it’s of no use or we’re not getting anywhere or making progress. But we continue anyway because it pleases God. And we know that the results of our obedience achieve the much-desired goal of running with endurance without the weights and sin that seek to slow us down.
One more thing about the marathon/sprint analogy. The marathoner will not run in a brief spurt of all-out sprinting. However, they do save some reserves for the end in case it’s a close race.
It is clear the collective church is coming to the end of the race, and, as the reserve “kick” marathoners have, it is time for the church to engage theirs. Lay aside any weight that is keeping you from doing all you can for God’s glory and any sins that may be tarnishing in the eyes of others the reflection of God in your life.
Once in a while, even a great runner falls, like Abraham or David, but what we need to remember is this:
Proverbs 24:16
For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.
If you have fallen in your race, get up and keep running. The finish line is in sight. Jesus is coming for us soon!
Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.
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