| “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). |
| “And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only” (Matthew 17:8). |
| In Hebrews 12 the chapter begins by describing the Christian life as a marathon race. It is a race to be run with patience, for it lasts a lifetime. However, every good runner always has something before him — the end of the race. He looks toward the time when he will cross the finish line. But how much more wonderful it is if someone we love is waiting for us at that finish line! |
| As I write this in the fall of 2021, it is only a week since a girl named Kendra ran a half-marathon (13.1 miles) in Akron, Ohio, U.S.A. At the end of the race was a difficult hill which tired her out, but then as she came over the hill, she saw her boyfriend at the finish line holding up a big sign that said, “Kendra, will you marry me?” Needless to say, the sight of him waiting for her spurred her on, and she ran the last bit of the race with renewed energy. She gave him a big hug, and said, “Yes, I will!” |
| For you and me as Christians, heaven is at the end of the race, and this gives us energy to carry on running. But far more than that, our Lord Jesus Christ is waiting there too, to welcome us home. Does it give you renewed energy, to know that He is anxiously waiting for you? |
| If we do not have the end of the race in view, it is easy to get distracted along the way. It is easy to look around at things in this world, and to forget that we are even in a race. We must be like the Apostle Paul, who could say in Philippians 3:14, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” God is “calling us on high,” and we must keep that goal before us. |
