Finish The Race/ The Saints Are Cheering Us On

I enjoy listening to stories about people who will not give up; stories of those who stay the course even though the �going gets tough� and they are a source of great inspiration to all.

Remember the man who came to Jesus and said, "I will follow you wherever you go"? Jesus responds that, "Before you make that kind of commitment; you need to realize that foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

"In other words, if you follow me, there will be difficult and discouraging times.
But after you realize that and except that then put your hands to the plow," and "don�t look back."

When people begin their Christian life, and then later quit when the �going gets tough�, they can become an object of ridicule to some; a source of discouragement to others.

That is the reason Hebrews 12:1-2 is so important.

Listen as I read it again, "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.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

In this passage the Christian life is not compared to a wind sprint, but to a marathon. In a wind sprint you run as fast as you can for a short distance, and speed is the critical factor.

But in a marathon, endurance is the critical factor.

Paul proclaimed, "I�ve kept the faith. I�ve finished the race. Therefore there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. And not for me only..."

Finishing the race is critically important for all of us who would call themselves followers of the Christ.

We are Inspired, Inspired by those saints, those believers that have gone on before.

And praise God that we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, that we can be inspired by, those who have finished the race, those that have gone on before.

Notice that chapter 12 begins with the word "Therefore."

That connects it with the previous chapter. And in chapter 11 of Hebrews the writer gives a long list of people who have been found faithful.

For instance, in vs. 7, the writer mentions Noah. Remember Noah? He spent 120 years of his life building an ark (Pause) 120 years!

Now I must confess that patience is not one of my finer virtues. In my mines eye I can almost hear my wife Lee saying Amen!

And every once in a while, when something I am concerned about seems to be moving too slowly, I will get anxious, and complain: "Why is this taking so long?"

Then I can feel Noah whispering in my ear, "Son," he says, "how long do you say you have been waiting? It took me 120 years to build the ark, son it was never easy.

The list in Hebrews 11 goes on. There is Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Samson, David. There is a great cloud of witnesses who gather to cheer us on.

They whisper in our ear when we become discouraged, "Don�t give up! Don�t lose heart. They are cheering us, they are cheering us on.

They do not ridicule or judge because they know how difficult the race can be.

Now when I get discouraged, I think not only of the great saints in Scripture, but also the men and women of God who have