What would your ideal Christian life look like? For some, it would be to have a more active prayer life. Others want to read (and understand) their Bible. Perhaps some just want to find a way to serve others to the glory of God. If a lot of us are honest, maybe we’d answer with “I would just want to be a better Christian in general.”
And yet, for all the God-pleasing desire we have to surrender to Christ and live a life that pleases Him, we simply don’t. We want to, and we may even take steps to do it, but in time we find ourselves not praying, not reading, staying home instead of serving, and in general seeing very little spiritual growth. So what is it that disconnects what we desire from what we actually do?
Preparing to race
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
Running a race is an excellent picture of our new lives in Christ. We aren’t passive participants, just letting things happen to us. On the day of salvation, our lives became all about motion. Every day, the Holy Spirit makes us more like Christ as He moves us forward in our Christian walk. Glorifying Christ is the motivation for every good thing we do. He is our goal.
When we think about running a race, several factors can affect a runner’s ability to do well:
- Diet
- Technique
- Equipment
- Amount of training and fitness
- The motivation to do well
- General health and rest
Although having many of these things is better than none at all, straying in just one of these areas can hold a runner back. What good is it to have the correct technique if your shoes are so poor that you risk injuring yourself? Why spend a lifetime training when you have no motivation to succeed? Who cares how much sleep you got before the race if your diet leaves you sluggish?
A runner with most of these will undoubtedly fair better than someone else with none of them, but no one dedicates their lives to training for something just to be adequate at it. They want to do their absolute best, with nothing holding them back.
Running with boulders
Our life spent pursuing Christ is no different than an athlete’s dedication to performing at their best. Consider all the things that are part of our lives:
- Reading the Bible regularly and knowing how to handle it well
- Praying often
- Confessing sin, both to God and those we sin against
- Loving God more than things in the world (including money, our family, the respect of others, and everything else we put higher than Him)
- Removing temptation from our lives and replacing them with things that draw us to holy living
- Loving the “fruit of the spirit” and hating the “works of the flesh” from Galatians 5
- Finding ultimate satisfaction and contentment in God, regardless of our health, wealth, and any other circumstances
- Serving the body of Christ, loving other Christians more than ourselves
- Killing things like pride, laziness, wrong desires, anger, and other sins that we struggle with
Like a runner, a Christian whose life has some of these will draw closer to Christ than if they had none at all. But as Christians, we don’t want to settle for good enough in our walk with Christ.
And in the end, most Christians want that kind of life. Yet as we’re running this race where we fix our eyes on Christ, we’re choosing to be held back. We are trying to run this race well, yet at the same time trying to carry something with us.
As Christians, we must ask ourselves if we’re running a race while carrying boulders on our backs. If Christ is our goal, are we weighed down by those things that do nothing but hinder us? Are we running the best race we can, or are we allowing ourselves to make less progress because there are things we don’t want to give up?
Sin and encumbrance: lay it all at the cross
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1)
The Christian life requires a lot of honesty on our part. If we want to pursue Christ with everything, we need to pause and examine what’s holding us back. If we can’t do that, we’ll forever feel frustrated that we aren’t living the life we know God wants us to live, yet we’ll continue to be confused about why we aren’t.
Sometimes, perhaps most often, it’s sin holding us back. We’re too proud to live the life Christ has for us because it’s different from what we want. Perhaps we don’t want to give up an addicting habit because it’s comfortable and familiar. Maybe we have a sin we keep hiding, yet we can’t find freedom from it. Whatever sin is holding us down, we must remember that Christ already defeated it at the cross.
The most difficult thing is that it’s not always sin that holds us back. God has given us many good things in this world, and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying them. However, we will often put too much focus on those gifts, robbing the gift-giver of the praise and glory He deserves.
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. (James 4:8-10)
In these verses, we see the importance of drawing close to God. We see that doing so requires us to not only set aside our sin but also to stop being “double-minded.” In other words, our hearts and minds need to be free from anything except what will let us draw closer to God by humbling ourselves before Him.
That can include hobbies, working too much, making our children or spouse a higher priority than God, watching too much TV, or spending too much time on social media. We all have those things, whether sinful or not, that hold us back. We know what they are; the only question is whether we’re willing to confront those things and do something about them.
Christ, our only goal
There is a lot to enjoy in this life. Yet above all, we are meant to enjoy Christ. He gives us many good things to enjoy, but God wants us to enjoy them in their proper place. And by the grace of God, we may realize there are good things in our lives that simply need to go because they hold us back from our ultimate goal of a closer relationship with Christ.
Whether it’s sinful thoughts or actions that Christ needs to free us from or a good thing that distracts us, we must put it all under the authority of Christ. The life waiting for us isn’t just better than anything the world can offer, but it’s the only thing that will truly satisfy. Surrender everything to Christ, set aside everything holding you back, and by the grace of God, run this race with everything you have.
