By Gina Caswell Kelly
How about this heat? The heat has been a bit relentless these days. As I often say, “It’s just too hot for people!” I know that we have had hotter days and we will have hotter days to come, but for right now, this moment, It is hot!
This brings to mind the word “endurance.” We struggle to endure the heat. For those who have to work out in it, endurance is key to being able to finish the job.
The New Testament writers were huge fans of this word in their writings. One of my favorites is from Hebrews. In Hebrews 12:1, it says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, 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.” Let’s look at this verse.
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses can mean a couple of things. One, it can mean we have so many people who have gone on before us who are cheering us on as we run the race. We have learned so much from those Christians who lived faithful lives in the face of adversity. All over the world Christians have been persecuted for their beliefs. Up until the last few years, we saw very little persecution here, in the United States. Sadly, that has changed and the call for us to endure is stronger now than ever. So we endure because we know that those who have gone before us were able to endure.
We also have so many people watching how we live. People like to say that it doesn’t matter what others think. But, in being witnesses for Christ, it really does. It matters what kind of example we set before the world. It matters that the world sees us enduring to the finish and standing strong for what believe to be true and right.
The verse also tells us to lay aside those things that hold us back. The sins, the worries, the troubles of this world are weights that keep us from running our best race. In a 400 meter run, the winner is not going to be pushing a basket full of all kinds of weights! So, as Christians, we are to hand off to God all those things that hold us back and keep us from running the strong race for Christ that is in front of us.
Endurance is one mark of a Christian. Endurance shows your faith is true and strong. Not giving up when things get tough, but instead standing even stronger in the face of opposition and continuing to run that strong race for the cause of Christ shows the faith of a Christian.
So, as we endure theses hot days, let’s remember to run with endurance the race for Christ which is before us. It will make a difference.
