Run! The Christian Life Is a Race | Short Sermon Series

If you are a Christian, then you are right now running a race. Today, this morning, you are in the middle of your race. There is a starting line, there is a finish line, and there is a prize. There is discipline, sacrifice, and focus needed to accomplish the goal. And all along the way, there are obstacles that get in our way and try to slow us down.

How is your race going? Are you running hard? Are you expending maximum effort? Are you even aware that you are in the race? For some, the pace is fast and you are running hard. The wind is rushing through your hair and Christ has your heart. For others, the pace is slow, weighed down by the distractions of this world or held back by sin in your life. For others, you have forgotten that you are in a race and aren’t running right now.

When was the last time you thought about your life as a race? I picked this text mostly for my own heart. I need to be reminded that I am in a race. Maybe like me, complacency and sin have crept into your heart. Forgetful and distracted, preoccupied by the busyness of life, your efforts have decreased and the goal is not firmly fixed in your mind.

The writer of Hebrews, knowing our tendency to drift, gives us these three verses to put us back into the race. He helps us with the reasons why running is difficult and gives us the ultimate motivation to keep running. And here it is in a nutshell. When your eyes are taken off of Christ, you will struggle to run. When you forget or get preoccupied and concerned with other things, you will find it is difficult to run.

And so in a divinely inspired motivation, we are given that great key to running our race. May the Lord use this text to bring us closer to Him and to drive us onward in our race. Our outline has three very simple points in the race motif—1) on your mark, 2) get set, 3) go.

But the point the author is making is that these men and women did not accomplish great things because they were amazing people. God took normal people and did much through them because of their faith. Moses was a stuttering murderer, Abraham a liar, Rahab a prostitute, David an adulterer, Sarah a doubter. This is not a list of perfect people. It is not a list of heroes. It is a list of fallen sinners who put their trust in God and watched Him do amazing things.

Short Sermon from “Run! The Christian Life Is a Race (Hebrews 12:1-3)” by @faith.bible 🎨@namesyerushah