Old Truths From An Old Sage

For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. (Hebrews 10:36) No matter how old we are or how long we have been in “the race,” we are still in the race until we take our last breath, rejoicing on the way and being thankful for every bump, hole and brier that would slow us down and trip us. But, remember, that only as we keep our eyes on Jesus, Who is the “author and finisher” of our faith, can we stay on course and steadfastly run focused on Jesus (Who is the prize, the One toward Whom we are running and reaching out to lay hold). He is the “wind beneath our wings.” He is our Reason for existing, our Reason for running this race. The longer we know Him, the sweeter He grows! If we don’t have this love for Jesus; this longing to become more like Him; this desire to reach out to lay hold on Him, the One Who laid hold of us, and laid up for us this eternal life for which we were summoned, for which we confessed the good confession of faith (I Timothy 6:12), we have slowed our pace and turned from the race to other things. If education, job, career, relationships, or anything other than Jesus that is in first place, that is an idolatrous god. We must choose to endure. Endurance is stamina. It’s the ability and determination to keep going the distance. David Jeremiah says, “Christianity isn’t a spectator faith. It’s a marathon on the straight and narrow road, through ups and downs, over hills and valleys, until we reach Home.” Therefore….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. (Hebrews 12:1) If our longings are to be like the world around us, however “cool,” or immoral, or “hip,” we have deserted our “first love,” Jesus (read Rev.2:2-5). We are to “be in the world but not of the world.” We are to dedicate all our member and faculties as a living sacrifice (devoted & consecrated) to God, which is pleasing to Him. We are not to be conformed (from outside in) to this world (fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs), but be transformed (from inside out) and changed by the entire renewing of our mind (by its new ideals and its new attitude), so that we may prove for ourselves what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2 Amp.). If we want to get back “on track, we must ask ourselves some hard questions: (1) Does the way I dress glorify Jesus? Is it modest, or does it look like the way the “world” dresses – like a “street walker?” Would you be pleased to go out with a young man/woman who dresses like you do? (2) Do the places I go please Jesus? Would we be pleased to ask Him to go with us? Do the people and the atmosphere at this place draw us closer in your devotion to God? I John 2:15 tells us to “not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.” (3) Are we daily submitting our bodies to God (Romans 12:1), & our mind, will and emotions – our all. This means do we go where He wants us to go; do we say what He wants us to say; do we do those things He wants us to do, when He wants us to do them, and how He wants them done. (4) Are we daily inviting the Holy Spirit to cleanse us from all sin, and fill us with Himself (Eph.5:1). His Holy Spirit can empower us to live above the world. Run the straight race through God’s good grace, Lift up your eyes and seek His face. Life with its ways before us lies, Christ is the path, and Christ the prize. (John S. B. Monsell)