Title Hebrews 12:1-3 Faith Marathon
Contents
Faith Marathon (Hebrews 12:1-3)
Athletics Marathon and Faith Marathon
Recently, Bong-Ju Lee finished the marathon at the Asian Games in Bangkok. Every match is the result of an athlete winning a fight against himself. But why admire the 100-meter sprint winner but impress the marathon winner? Because they give generous marks for their efforts that have overcome long hours of breathtaking pain. He deserves the cheers of the crowds on the left and right.
Wouldn't our life be like a marathon race, not a sprint? There are thousands of witnesses around like a cloud. who are they? These are the ancestors of faith recorded in Hebrews 11. They are beautiful saints who embroidered the history of the church. And today, we are comrades of faith who are fighting the holy battle with us. They are not just spectators. All of them are experienced people who have experienced the meaning of the marathon in life together. They are living witnesses of the gospel (Romans 1:16), which is the power of God for salvation to all who believe, and they are living witnesses of the faith (Hebrews 11:6) who firmly believe that God lives and that those who come to Him are surely a rewarder. . Surrounded by these witnesses, we are still running the 1999 point of a long marathon of faith.
There are two differences between the faith marathon and the athletics marathon. The first is that if you leave the course in the middle, you can start over from there. There is no intermediate dropout. You can restart at any time. This is because, in the course of the faith marathon, the strict rule of justice is applied above all else, but the rule of infinite love is applied simultaneously. The Faith Marathon starts with the premise that no runner can run well from start to finish without making mistakes or getting discouraged.
Second, you don't have to be obsessed with records or rankings. Breaking records and obsessing over first place are all products of competition. The Marathon of Faith is not a race run before others, but a race in which everyone runs together. It is a unique marathon that runs hand in hand with congratulations and encouragement to those who left the course and came back, and those who were discouraged from going. So it is a race of emotion rather than admiration. Because admiration is an expression of excellence, but emotion is a response to excellence. It is for the recognition of excellence, sacrificial life, not excellence that everyone stands and gives heartfelt applause in awe.
Unlike these days, long ago, on the anniversary of the opening of the school, a shortened marathon in which all students participated was popular. We started together, but there were various types of people, such as the shy type who secretly took the bus to the front of the school and got off the bus, the fine-haired type who deviated from the course and went to a side road, and the abandoned type who sat down to catch me. Honest runners become victims of good will in some respects. It's rude and it's tiring. In a competitive marathon, these people won't survive. At the very least, you'll get shot and injured. However, the marathon of faith is not a competition marathon aiming to set a new record or to win first place, but because it is a marathon that aims at the new commandment of Jesus (John 13:34) - Love one another as I have loved you. There is no consciousness and no sense of harm. Our goal is to help each other rather than compete. So, the principles that govern the marathon of faith are process-oriented rather than result-oriented, and people-centered rather than work-oriented.
3 Tips for the Faith Marathon
To run a faith marathon, you must adhere to three rules. First, put off what you want to put off quickly (Hebrews 12:1). It is said that all heavy burdens and sins that are easy to entangle are to be cast off. A heavy load is a fat mass that dulls an athlete's body. The flesh of faith is possessiveness. The more I own, the more secure my position is, and the reason is the illusion that my skin will be more glamorous. But just as in a land marathon you need to be as light as possible to run well, so is the marathon of faith. The more you own, the more difficult it is to run. If you can't control yourself because your body is too heavy, how can you look back on others? It is the result of ignorance of not understanding the spirit of the marathon of faith.
Comrades of faith!
Let us think whenever we are weary and discouraged. Let us think of Jesus, who endured this rebellion of sinners (Hebrews 12:3). The faith marathon is also a running race, so there are times when you feel tired and discouraged. When are you most tired and discouraged from running a marathon of your life? It must be a human relationship where you will not be treated fairly and you will have to face the sword of betrayal and treason. Thinking of Jesus, who endured the very difficult course, ran and finally received the crown of victory, we must also endure and run. Even in 1999, a tiring and disappointing course awaits us. Let's not avoid the difficult course, but run after Jesus so that the course avoids us who are stronger. What has begun has an end. The marathon of faith will come to an end someday. There you will meet the Lord.