Run the race positively

So, in the Christian life, there is always the primary motivation, which is positive. You run the Christian race positively, primarily, and how do you do that? Well, you do that by looking to Jesus; Hebrews 12:2 says, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Christ is what the race is all about. When I was in high school, I ran track for a while. My coach always said, I will be standing at the end of the race. You keep your eyes on me as you run. And do not look back over your shoulder to see where the next guy is. You will lose in just a split second. That may cost you the race. Reminisce enough, John 21:21, What shall this man do? Peter asked. What is that to thee? Follow thou me. Run the race, Peter, to the end. Looking to Jesus.

You see Jesus Christ himself is the great prize at the end of the race. He is the prize as we run. He is the prize that we get when we complete running. He is our eternal glory. He is our motivation. He is everything. He is our positive reason for enduring. And so, we look to him. And he is the pioneer and the completion; the supplier; and he sustainer of our faith. He evokes our faith. He stimulates our faith. He is the perfecter of our faith. And he will not allow a single runner to fall to the side of the racetrack, because he is the Finisher of the faith of his runners. So, from origin to completion we owe everything to Jesus. Jesus looms large in the Christian race. He is our all in all. We run for his sake. We run for his glory. We run for communion with him. He is the supreme exponent of our faith. He himself is the runner. He was the model Runner who ran perfectly for thirty-three years. And he is our coach. He now coaches us along. He tells us how to run. He gives us his Word. He guides us. He grants us his Spirit. He sends his servants. He provides all the means of grace. Look to Jesus: the author and finisher of your faith, to endure to the end.

The good news about Jesus is that he is stronger than all the enmity of all the sources of spiritual warfare. He is even stronger than your own old nature. He is stronger than Satan. He is stronger than the world. He is stronger than every enticement. You can trust him. You can take refuge in him. Yes, you might say, that is all well and good, I know I have had times in my life when I have been very excited about, Jesus and about salvation in him. I know times where I could run the race, but I tend to get so spiritually drowsy. I tend to get so laid back. The world creeps in and then I have difficulty laying sin aside; I have difficulty looking to Jesus. What can motivate me? Well, the beginning of Hebrews 12:1 and the rest of Hebrews 12:2 tells you that. There are two great motivations in this text. The first one is the example of Christ. The second one is the cloud of witnesses.¹

Joel Beeke