I am throwing off everything that hinders my faith in God and His race for me.

Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 12:1, NIV- “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,”

There are times when it seems God is screaming directions to us. In church this past Sunday and twice since then I have been reminded of the direction of Hebrews 12:1 to throw off everything that hinders us from running the race God has provided for us.

From the beginning of time humans have stumbled when our sights were on anything outside of faith in God. With the weight of the cares of this world on our shoulders we are tempted to lose sight of the promises of God.

Hebrews 12:2 is the key to running the race God has already provided for 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 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (KJV)

In sports we have often heard, “keep your eye on the ball.” We also must not drop the ball or baton before we cross the goal or finish line. Keeping our eyes and our faith firmly upon Jesus we finish the race marked out for us. We must always remember the promise of Hebrews 11:40 “God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.” (NKJV)

When we run and live in faith we experience something better. Our faith must be in God and not in the results we can see immediately. Hebrews 11:1 tells us “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

We may not be seeing victory right now, but we can trust in God’s plan. The trophies and medals may not be achieved in our lifetimes, but God will be glorified. In fact, Paul tells us in Hebrews 11:39 that “All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised.” (NLT)

Faith is what pleases God and also where we will experience all of God’s promises. When we live in faith, our lives can be like Abel’s as Paul mentioned in Hebrews 11:4, “…by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.” Our acts of faith live well beyond our years. Like Cain we are not to compare our race to others but to give God our first and best.

We must toss away anything that hinders our faith. We must not look around for approvals and accolades of this world. We must fix our eyes upon Jesus and He will direct our paths. We are reminded in Hebrews 11:8, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” (NKJV)

We too must be obedient to go and do as God commands even though we may not know where we are going. As long as we keep going towards Jesus we will end up in the perfect place.

Let us get rid of everything that hinders us from running the race God has provided for each of us.

Today’s Prayer:  Father God, I am trusting You with this day. LORD, keep our eyes fixed on Jesus so we finish the race You have given each of us. You Father God are the maker and the builder of our lives. LORD, please provide us with faith when we have none. Help us to be obedient and faithful. Father, I am trusting Your plans today. Amen.