Lay Your Burdens Down (Part 2)

Hebrews 12 encourages us to run the race that God has set before us, which is possible when we keep our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith (verse 2). Not only did Jesus start the race and finish the race, but He ran it faithfullyfor us. He didn’t take His eyes off the end result, the prize. He was able to face anything that came His way, even enduring an excruciating death. Why? Because it was all worth it to Him. The prize was greater than the race. The prize was greater than the pain. The prize was greater than the shame. The prize was greater than the rejection. The prize was greater than the cross. He saw usHis people, His creationand thought, “They’re worth it.” Look at the second part of verse 2: Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Isn’t that beautiful? Jesus was looking forward to the joy of reuniting us to Himself, of healing His creation that has been broken by sin. What about us? If we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we get to look forward to living with God in His new world, where we will be free from sin and death. That is our joy that is set before us. In this life, we have hurt, we have pain, we have sorrow, we have defeat, we have discouragement, we have______. Fill in the blank. But that’s not the end of our storyand praise God for that! We have pain for a season, but thank you, Jesus, that joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). Because we belong to Jesus, we can know that He is right alongside us in the pain. And the Holy Spirit empowers us to endure the hurt, the sadness, the brokenness knowing that the prize will be worth it all. We can look forward to the end of our race, being with Jesus and hearing Him say, Well done, my good and faithful servant (Matthew 25:23). He loves us, and He won’t leave us. Mary Garner Jesus ran the race for YOU. How can this give you hope? 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. 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. Hebrews 12:1b-2 (NLT)

Read Verses:

Hebrews 12:1-Hebrews 12:3