Keeping Going
“I press towards the mark” (Philippians 3:14).
The Christian life is not so much a sprint as it is an obstacle race, and one of the qualities called for is endurance. This is a more necessary thing than speed. Moses, we are told, “endured, as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27), and of a greater than Moses it is written “Jesus…endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2).
The Lord in His pathway was constantly confronted with obstacles, and finally the cross, but none of these things cause Him to deviate from the course. He continued until He could say, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do” (John 19:30). So did Paul, when he declared, “I have finished my course” (2 Timothy 4:7).
The exhortation comes to us, “Let us lay aside every weight…and let us run with patience (endurance) the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:1-2). When the going is hard and dangerous, then, “Consider Him” (Hebrews 12:3). He who Himself endured can give grace for endurance.
