What is the race God has set before you? Our previous article talked about running your race with endurance, but what if you’re enduring in the wrong race? What if God called you to something different and you missed it? What is God actually calling you to do? The answer is annoyingly simple: FAITH.
God has called us to a life of faith. Period. It doesn’t matter what our occupation, role or organization is, we are called to a life of faith.
In this series, we’ve been focusing all of our attention on chapter 12. How do we strip off weights? How do we run with endurance? How do we focus on Jesus? However, if we’re not careful we’ll miss the biggest piece. Chapter 12 starts with a key word: “Therefore.” This is referencing what came before in Chapter 11, the foundation for the race itself. Hebrews 11 talks about faith over 20 times to hammer a single point home: “It is impossible to please God without faith.” We can’t run our races without faith, because the life of faith is the race.
There is a clear pattern in Chapter 11: faith comes first and then action is produced. Faith led to Abraham obeying, faith led to Noah building, faith led to Israel marching around Jericho, etc., etc. Likewise, our faith in Christ will lead us on our own journey of obeying, building, and marching. The life of faith is action packed. Whatever is in front of us, we press into it with faith.
So whatever you are about to do…do it with a faith that looks to Christ. It could be signing the biggest deal of your career or mopping the floors, but without faith it is impossible to please God. It’s not your occupation, role, or organization that pleases God; it’s simply living by faith as you do whatever God has set before you. Thomas Dodds is onto something when he routinely says to all his clients “be faithful.” That is our calling and our race.
Hebrews 12:1-3 says, “Therefore (pointing back to the faith talked about in chapter 11), since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.”