Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1, ESV).
God’s Word calls us to endure. In the Greek of the New Testament, the word translated as “endurance” can also be translated as “patience” or “perseverance.”
Do the words “endurance,” “patience,” and “perseverance” describe our walk with Jesus? I pray that we have or will gain endurance. It also says in the Book of Hebrews …
So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised (Hebrews 10:35-36, NLT).
We are at the end of time. We know that trials will increase with intensity and frequency right before Jesus returns. And the Bible teaches that many, under pressure and even persecution, will throw away confident trust in the Lord.
Let’s run with endurance. How?
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith (Hebrews 12:2, NLT).
The overwhelming teaching of the Bible is that God is love and that He wants a relationship with us. When Scripture teaches that we are to keep our eyes on Jesus, it means literally — to keep our eyes on Jesus.
There are many inspirational people in history.
Growing up, we had sports idols. Maybe we read a biography about a person who became an inspiration to us, and all of us can think of someone who provided an example for our lives.
Jesus is more than a biography, a famous person, or a role model as He initiates and perfects our faith through an existing relationship. It’s difficult to persist for a mere goal or an ideal, but easy to endure for someone who first loved us!
Love for family and friends is an illustration of the patience and perseverance that will keep us faithful. A relationship is the best motive for endurance, and with Jesus, we have the ultimate friend.
In the ministry for 49 years, I experienced “pastoral loneliness.” I found solace in realizing that the only person who could truly understand the preaching, funerals, crises, fund-raising, and staff issues of my weekly workload was Jesus.
My relationship with Jesus was the key to any success that I had as Pastor. I could endure because I felt close to Him. My burdens were lifted in prayer.
What can you do? Practice His presence!
In my early years of following Jesus, I asked Him to reveal his presence, but through the years, I realized that He is always with me. It wasn’t a question of His desire to be my friend but my grasping of things that hindered our relationship.
Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1).
Endurance, patience, perseverance — easy with Jesus!