Therefore, 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. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Hebrews 12:1-2a
It won’t be long and game day will have arrived. The stands will fill with fans who will cheer the team on, cheer you on. It’s exciting and motivating all at the same time. You want to do your best, not only for your teammates but for your fans as well.
The spiritual life is much like that. The author of Hebrews tells us that there is a great crowd of witnesses who surround us on our spiritual journey. In the context of this passage of Scripture that would be the believers in Jesus who have gone before us, those who have finished their walk of faith on this earth (Hebrews 11). This would include Biblical characters like Abraham and Moses. For our purposes let’s consider that it can also include those who walk the walk of faith with us every day: our families, our teammates, our coaches, our roommates, our professors, etc. The author of Hebrews tells us a couple chapters earlier, “ Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.” (Hebrews 10:24) Not only are we surrounded by those who should be cheering us on in our spiritual journey with Christ, we need to be encouraging those who walk with us on the journey. We were never meant to journey alone.
We are also told to keep our eyes on Jesus. He’s our champion. He’s the One who did this well. He’s our biggest supporter and biggest motivator. Are you taking advantage of His leadership? Are you helping to encourage one another well?
Pray that you receive Jesus’ leadership well. Ask God to show you how you can be an encouragement to at least one teammate and coach this week.