When my wife and I were in our twenties, we were focused on staying fit and in shape, so we jogged. It wasn’t my favorite thing to do, but it was effective and brought the results I wanted. There were many occasions I would have to jog on my own and I noticed that I seemed to struggle more when I was by myself. When Kristen ran with me and we reached the point of quitting but we knew we needed to push ourselves and go a little further, we used eachother to go further. Instead of running beside each other, one of us would get behind the other and the one in the rear would focus on the feet of the one in front. That focus gave us the endurance to press on for a much greater distance.
God’s word encourages running partners who keep us focused and pressing on especially when we feel like stopping. The disciple’s life is like a race that requires running partners.
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, 2 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.”
So many times when I was running alone and my side started hurting me, I just stopped. But every time I had my running partner with me, I found the strength to go a little bit further. Perhaps you feel like quitting today and completely forget about your goals and why you started the faith-run to begin with. Let this be an encouragement to you, give to God what’s weighing so heavy on you, get into a place where you can focus on the feet of Jesus, and run with endurance. He will supply what you need to keep on going.
You are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses of your faith-run. Many of those witnesses are mentioned in Hebrews 11, but you also have those that live with you or those who are near you watching to see if you will quit or keep on going. Keep going, because at the end of this race the prize is extraordinarily glorious!
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