Put away any Encumbrance to Run the race with Endurance by Looking away unto Jesus

We need to put away any encumbrance and the entangling sin, and run the race with endurance, looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, the One who attracts us like an immense magnet.

Our Christian life is a race, and every saved Christian must run the race to win the prize; this prize is not salvation in the common sense, but a reward in a special sense.

The apostle Paul ran the race, struggling and pursuing Christ to gain Him to the uttermost, considering all other things as dung and refuse so that he may gain Christ; at the end of his life he said that he has finished the course, and now there’s laid up for him the crown of righteousness.

All believers in Christ are on the way, and the way is Christ; we are on the way to God and into God, the way that leads to life. However, because of opposition and persecution, this way has become a race; we now no longer merely journey or walk on the way, but we need to run the race with endurance.

This race is not perfection or glorification, for that is the goal of the race, neither is it the inward working of the law of life – for that is the process of the race. The race is not even losing the soul-life, which is the way to run the race.

The race is simply Christ; our way is our race. We need to pursue Christ, look away unto Him from anything else, and run to gain Christ and enjoy Him to the uttermost, so that we may receive the prize.

Just as the runners in a race put away everything that encumbers them, anything that would hold them back, and anything that is unnecessary or too heavy, so we need to put away all other things that would hinder us from gaining Christ and experiencing Him.

We need to run the race with endurance, not giving up or shrinking back, and not allowing anything to delay us or stop us from running the race.

The only way we can run the race is by looking away unto Jesus, the One who is the Author of our faith and the Perfecter of our faith; He has run the race, He made it all the way into glory, and now He is perfecting us to run the race with endurance and enter into glory just as He did.

Putting away any Encumbrance and Entangling Sin, let us Run the race with Endurance

An encumbrance is a weight, a burden, or an impediment; in running the race, we need to strip off any unnecessary weight, every encumbering burden, so that nothing may impede us from winning the race.

The runners in a race are very particular about what they wear and what weight they have, so that they would be in a streamlined condition, not being encumbered by anything. An encumbrance in our Christian life may not be something sinful but something that slows us down.

Especially in today’s day and age, with the digital devices and screens around us, it is so convenient to have the entire world at our fingertips, even in our pocket.

Our smartphone may help us with our communication, news, emails, etc, but it also can be a great encumbrance, weighing us down from enjoying the Lord and taking away from our time in the Lord’s presence.

Furthermore, we may be encumbered and slowed down in running the race by our job, our working to provide the best education for our children, our caring for our family, etc; these are not sinful, but they may encumber us.

We may do a lot of things and pay a high price for convenience. Can we take care of all these necessary things with a little less convenience and luxury? The more convenience we have, the more encumbrances we have, and our time and capacity are being wasted.

We have to take care of our family, raise up our children, and take care of our profession, but let us not be encumbered, so that we may run the race freely.

We need to put off the entangling sin, which in Hebrews refers specifically to the willful sin of forsaking the assembling together with the saints, of giving up the new covenant way in God’s economy, and of going back to Judaism (Heb. 10:26).

The willful sin will disqualify you, for it is an unrighteousness; going back to offering sacrifices and forsaking the New Testament way of meeting will disqualify us from running the race.

We need to run the race with endurance, asking the Lord to direct our hearts into the love of God and into the endurance of Christ (2 Thes. 3:5).

Christ is in His heavenly ministry interceding for us, and we are running the race on earth, encountering frustrations and encumbrances; He knows our situation, and He comes to us where we are.

The days are getting darker, the world is becoming more unrighteous and lawless, and the principle of lawlessness is at work even as the Lord prophesied; there are more tendencies to drift away, oppose, go against God, and be weary among God’s people.

The Lord is encouraging us to go on and endure; He wants us to run the race with endurance; He intercedes for us. What is required of the church in Philadelphia is simply to keep the word of the Lord’s endurance. We are not very powerful, but we keep the Lord’s word of endurance.

We need to hold fast what we have, lest someone take our crown. Our danger today is not in the lack of advancement but in retrogression, in not holding the position, but retreating or giving up because of familiarity with the Bible or because of opposition.

However, the love of God was poured into our hearts (Rom. 5:5), and we love the Lord (1 John 4:19); we need to run with endurance, press on, and allow the Lord to direct our heart into the endurance of Christ to run the race.

Lord Jesus, direct our heart into the love of God and into the endurance of Christ. We want to put away every encumbrance, anything that hinders us from running the race, so that we may run the race with endurance toward the goal. Lord Jesus, we need You! We cannot run the race without You infusing us with Yourself to be the One enduring in us. Save us from shrinking back, not holding the position, retreating, or giving up. Direct our heart in the endurance of Christ so that we may run the race with endurance!

Looking Away unto Jesus with Undivided Attention, for He’s the most Wonderful One!

If the Lord would only require us to run the race with endurance – just as Jesus did, yet without giving us the supply or the way, we would crash and burn pretty quickly.

But praise the Lord, the way to run the race with endurance is by looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2)!

Our attitude in running the race should not be one of trusting ourselves but of looking away unto Jesus. We need to look away unto Jesus with undivided attention by turning away from every other object. Jesus is the Author of our faith – He’s the Originator, the Inaugurator, the source, and the cause of our faith.

He is the Leader, the Pioneer, and the Forerunner; He has already cut the way, going before us, and finished His course, and now we follow Him by looking away unto Jesus! He had a journey; He cut through all the opposition, the shame, and the attacks, and He is now in glory, in the heavenlies.

He is the Author and Perfecter of our faith, transfusing, and transmitting faith into us. He is now interceding for us to be saved to the uttermost, to perfection, to glorification. We need to keep running the race with endurance by looking away unto Him!

We shouldn’t be distracted by so many things but put away anything else and look toward the prize; nothing else matters but the prize!

The wonderful Jesus, who is enthroned in heaven and crowned with glory and honor (Heb. 2:9) is the greatest attraction in the universe. He draws all people to Himself by His beauty; He is like an immense magnet drawing all His seekers to Him (see Song of Songs 1:4; Hosea 11:4; Jer. 31:3).

We run the race because He draws us, and our running and pursuing capacity depends on how much He draws us. There’s something attractive in our Savior Lord Jesus, something that has drawn countless men to Himself from all over the world.

It is by being attracted by His charming beauty, His loveliness, His pleasantness, and His delightfulness, that we look away from all things other than Him (Psa. 27:4). Without such a lovely One, without such a charming and beautiful Person who draws us, how can we look away from so many distracting things on the earth?

May we learn to look away unto Jesus by exercising our spirit to contact Him and by turning our heart to Him again and again.

We run the race not because we are so strong but because of the unveiling of His heart and the beaming of His beauty.

Our running is not because of the self but because of His drawing power. So may we give Him our undivided attention, turn away from every other object, and look away unto Him so that we may run the race with endurance!

Lord Jesus, draw us so that we may run after You! We are not strong and eager; we are not ready or qualified, but Lord Jesus, draw us! We want to look away from anything else unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Lord, we give You our undivided attention, putting away any encumbrance or hindrance, and focusing only on You. Your drawing power is our pursuing supply. We want to run the race with endurance by looking way from anything else unto Jesus, the most wonderful One!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Hebrews, pp. 563-566, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Cooperating with the Heavenly Ministry of the Ascended Christ (2017 Spring ITERO), msg. 8 (week 8), Cooperating with Christ in His Heavenly Ministry by Running with Endurance the Race Set before Us, Looking Away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of Our Faith. 
• Hymns on this topic:
  # There’s a race for us to run—Hallelujah, / And a way for us the race to win. / To all those who have begun—Hallelujah, / God has spoken, “Look away to Him!” / Look away! O look away! / Look to Jesus now today! / Look away from everything unto Jesus, / Look away from everything to Him! (Hymns #1206)
  # What has stripped the seeming beauty / From the idols of the earth? / Not a sense of right or duty, / But the sight of peerless worth. / Not the crushing of those idols, / With its bitter void and smart; / But the beaming of His beauty, / The unveiling of His heart. (Hymns #437)
  # Thou art, dear Lord, the greatest attraction, / Within the universe to see, / And like unto an immense magnet, / Drawing Thy seekers unto Thee. / Without Thyself, the charming Object, / How could we from all things turn ’way? / How could we from so many distractions / Upon this earth, Lord, look away? (Song on looking to Jesus)