The
Walk of Wisdom Part 4
The Walk becomes a
Run Heb 12:1-2
Wherefore seeing we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience
the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the
author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
throne of God.
We have
focused on the recognition that living on God’s wisdom is following the way of
the Lord, illuminated by the light of His Word. Wisdom provides a way – and
daily we abide in Christ by walking with Him. Wisdom, the Way of the Lord, and
our Daily Walk.
As we
grow in Christ our walk requires endurance. Jesus spoke of the need to abide
(remain) in Him as its the branch must remain on the vine to produce fruit
(John 15). Sustained abiding brings
endurance.
Paul’s
perspective of his walk was to serve others as a slave to “win” them to embrace
the Gospel and believe in Jesus the Savior (See I Corinthians 9:19-23). He then used the metaphor of the enduring
walk as a run – as if running in a race. He asked the believers at Corinth:
Do you
not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run
in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into
strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to
get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running
aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to
my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself
will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)
The
walk of wisdom became a run for Paul – the race of his life because he was
competing for a prize that endures forever. Also using the athletic metaphor of
a boxer, he further emphasized the need for self-discipline to be genuine in
his life.
Paul
was worried about the new believers in Galatia; he wondered how they had
returned to a form of false legalism that diminished the grace of God. He again
used the running metaphor to ask:
You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you
from obeying the truth? (Galatians 5:7)
Endurance
and perseverance in the Christian life is indeed an attribute of the walk of
wisdom. An old man (Paul) speaking to a young man (Timothy) expressed it this
way as he looked toward the completion of his race: “I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). This
is where the walk and race in this life ends, an enduring faith when we are
received by our Savior.
The
writer to the Hebrews dedicates the 11th chapter to the life of
faithful believers in the Old Testament, reviewing the ancient believers
including Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abram, Isaac and Jacob, and more. The writer
acknowledged their endurance: “All these
people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the
things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a
distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth (Heb.
11:13). But not all of the ancient believers shared
the same experience. Some “conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained
what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the
fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness
was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign
armies” (11:33-34) while others were destitute, persecuted, tortured,
imprisoned, killed by stoning, the saw or the sword (11:35-37) . Yet all of
these endured. Hebrews chapter 12 reminds us that we, too, are believers in
this great family of God – witnesses to the great drama of God’s redemption -
and we must also walk and run the assignment the Lord has set for each of us:
Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, Hebrews 12:1
Our encouragement in wisdom this week is to grow and turn
our walk into a run – even a run of endurance, letting no one cut in on us so
we can persevere in the race the Lord has set before us.
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