We need to run the race with endurance, looking away unto Jesus to be infused with all that He is and be enabled to run the heavenly race and live the heavenly life on earth! Amen!
Our dear, wonderful, precious, all-inclusive Lord Jesus Christ is the immense magnet, drawing all people to Himself; as we look away unto Him with undivided attention, looking away from anything and anyone else unto His wonderful face, we are infused with the power, strength, and endurance to run the race toward the prize.
Each one of us has our own journey with the Lord; we need to seek out the journey that the Lord has ordained and faithfully walk on it.
We need to pay the price to wholeheartedly continue on our journey until we reach the end and receive the crown.
We cannot be assured that we will receive the crown until the very last step, the last stage.
Only the Lord knows the journey that He has ordained for us, and we need to seek Him, be before Him, and depend on Him at every step.
For example, brother Watchman Nee had his course, his journey, and he was at peace with what the Lord brought his way; he did have a great work in Mainland China and then everything seemed to have stopped for him when he was put in prison, but that was the Lord’s ordained pathway for him.
Brother Lee, however, was sent to Taiwan, and he testified that, when he arrived there, he had no idea what to do, how to begin….so he sought the Lord, cooperate with Him, and many people were saved, many churches were raised, and his ministry was exercised.
Then, after brother Lee visited the United States, the Lord gave him a clear indication that He wants him to move his work in the USA, and it was there that he released the life-study of the Bible, the high peak truths, and the God-ordained way to meet and serve in the church life.
Each one of us has our own pathway with the Lord, and we can’t suggest something to others concerning their pathway, neither can we interfere with others’ journey.
If there is a call for migration for the Lord’s move, if there are some needs in some localities or certain countries, we cannot suggest to others to go – we can simply seek the Lord and be one with Him, and we can pray for one another so that we all may cooperate with Him in our journey before Him.
Even in the family life, between husband and wife, and the children – we cannot determine other’s course, we cannot overstep, for the Lord determines our pathway.
Praise the Lord, the journey that the Lord has ordained for us is the race that we all must run, and we must run with endurance the race set before us (Heb. 12:1).
May we not exercise to choose our own pathway; may we not exercise our preference to do what we want to do and go where we want to go.
Rather, may we seek the Lord, enjoy the Lord, and be one with Him in all things, realizing that He has a race of us to run, and He Himself is our future.
Our future is not our career; we shouldn’t strive to build a career but rather, we should simply look to the Lord, seek to be one with Him, and give Him our future and everything about us.
We need to Run with Endurance the Race which is set before us, Suffering Opposition and Not growing Weary
In running a race, endurance is required, for the prize is given not to the one who starts the race well, runs the race speedily, or arrives at the middle of the race with success; the prize is given to the one who finishes the race.
May we all be Christians who know the journey that the Lord has ordained for us and run with endurance the race which is set before us, even run until the end.
Many things come along as we run the race: we may be hurt, we may be offended, and we may be misunderstood or rejected; however, we still have to cheer up and run with endurance the race which is set before us.
We need to turn to the Lord again and again and, even if we fall, we can confess our sins, apply the Lord’s precious blood, confess to those whom we have offended or erred against, and just keep running!
We will fall again and again; we will commit mistakes; we will have failures.
The enemy will remind us of our mistakes, our failures, and our offenses; his full-time job is to accuse us before our God and to make many accusations against us so that he may wear us out and stop us from running the race.
May we keep our eyes on the prize: the joy set before us, and may we endure the suffering, despise the shame until we reach the goal!
This is what the Lord Jesus did: for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, He despised the shame, and He has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2).
May we look away unto Him – look away from our situation, look away from our failures, and look away from our sin and condition, and keep running with endurance the race set before us.
We will receive the prize if we keep running until the end.
We may be hurt, but we rise again and run; we may fall, but we stand up and keep running.
Being hurt and having suffering is not a problem, and even failing is not a problem; the problem is falling and not getting up to run the race.
The race is lifelong, and even though we fail, again and again, these things don’t matter – what matters is for us to get up and keep running!
May we run with endurance the race set before us, enduring all opposition and troubles, enduring all suffering and the cross, by looking away unto Jesus, believing that He who has begun this good work in us, He will also finish it!
May we not be distracted by the things in the world, the entertainment and sports, and may we not be bothered too much by our failures and sufferings – may our eyes be upon Jesus and upon the kingdom, knowing that He will reward us if we run with endurance the race set before us until the end!
May we not give up in our running; may we not become weary, and may we not faint in our soul for any reason.
Rather, may we look unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, and run with endurance the set before us until we meet Him and receive the reward from Him!
Like the Apostle Paul, all Christians must run the race to win the prize; the prize is not our salvation in the common sense but a reward in a special sense (Heb. 10:35; 1 Cor. 3:14-15; 9:26-27; Phil. 3:13-14).
In Rev. 3:10 the Lord tells us that, if we keep the word of His endurance, He will also keep us out of the hour of trial.
Endurance is not something of our natural characteristic; human endurance will run out, but Christ Himself is our endurance, and by Him, we can run with endurance the race which is set before us.
Lord Jesus, we want to run with endurance the race which is set before us, looking away unto Jesus! We do not look at our failures or sufferings: we look away unto Jesus Christ, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, the One who can take us on and bring us all the way to the end! We want to keep the word of Your endurance and have You as our endurance for running the heavenly race. Amen, Lord, may we never give up or become weary in our soul for any reason. Keep our eyes on the prize: the Lord Jesus Himself with His kingdom as our reward! Amen, Lord Jesus, You in us can do it – You can enable us to run with endurance the race which is set before us!
Run with Endurance the Race by Looking away unto Jesus, being Infused with Him to be Enabled to Run the Heavenly Race!
What does it mean for us to look away unto Jesus?
The Greek word translated “look away unto” has a very specific meaning; it means that we need to look with undivided attention to Jesus by turning away from every other object.
In running a race, the runner doesn’t look to the left or to the right – he looks at the finish line, and he doesn’t pay attention to what’s happening to the left or the right.
We need to look away from all the things in our situation, look away from our condition, and even look away from persecution and suffering – leave all these things aside and look away unto Jesus.
Who is this Jesus? In the epistles of Paul we see that Jesus Christ dwells in our spirit (Rom. 8:10; 2 Tim. 4:22) as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) to be our life and our everything.
In the book of Hebrews in particular we see a wonderful Jesus with so many aspects for us to enjoy and be infused with.
Jesus Christ is the One seated in heaven with many wonderful aspects to care for us in every way and to enable us to run with endurance the race before us.
For us to enjoy the heavenly Christ who is in contrast with the earthly religion and all earthly things, we need to look away from all things on earth unto Him; He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hallelujah!
Jesus Christ is in ascension, sitting in the heavens, in the person of the Son of God (Heb. 1:5) and the Son of Man (2:6), in the person of God (1:8) and man (2:6), as the appointed Heir of all things (1:2), the Anointed One of God (1:9), the Captain of our salvation (2:10), the Sanctifier (2:11), the instant Helper and constant Succor (2:18), the Apostle from God (3:1), the High Priest (2:17; 4:14; 7:26), the Minister in the true tabernacle (8:2) with a more excellent ministry (8:6), the surety and the Mediator of a better covenant (7:22; 8:6; 12:24), the Executor of the new testament (9:16-17), the Forerunner (6:20), the Author and Perfecter of faith (12:2), and as the great Shepherd of the sheep (13:20).
Wow, what a Christ we have! If we look unto Him as such a wonderful and all-inclusive Christ, He will infuse us with all that He is for us to run with endurance the race set before us.
When we look away unto Jesus, He will transfuse and infuse us with all that He is to enable us to run the heavenly race to the end, and to live the heavenly life on earth!
As we look away unto Jesus, we are infused with Him, and He carries us through all the lifelong pathway, leading and bringing us into glory (2:10).
It is not because of our strength and zeal that we can keep running the race set before us; it is because of being infused with Christ, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, that we can run with endurance the race set before us!
Our dear Lord Jesus Christ, the most wonderful One, is enthroned in heaven and crowned with glory and honor (2:9); as such a One, He is the greatest attraction in the universe, and like an immense magnet, He is drawing all His seekers unto Him! Amen!
It is by being attracted to Him with His charming beauty that we can look away from all things other than Him, and we can be infused with Him and transfused by Him to run the race.
Jesus Himself is the Author of our faith; He initiated faith in us, He generated faith in our being, and He Himself is our very faith.
He brought us on the heavenly race, and He continues to draw us to Himself; as we look away unto Jesus with undivided attention by being attracted by His beauty, we can run with endurance the race set before us.
Jesus is the Perfecter of faith – He will finish and complete our faith. As we look away unto Him continually, He will finish and complete the faith that we need to run the heavenly race (Heb. 12:1-2). Amen!
He knows what lies ahead of us; He knows what the future holds, and He knows each and everything that every phase in our life brings about.
As we are with the Lord, looking into His face and enjoying His infusing of Himself into us, we will be filled with faith, life, supply, grace, and resurrection power, and we can run the race with endurance, for He in us enables us to run the race to the end.
Whatever is coming, whatever lies ahead, He is supplying; whatever we need for the running of the heavenly race, He is supplying us richly!
Dear Lord Jesus, we look away unto You, the Author and Perfecter of our faith! Amen, Lord, we look unto You with undivided attention by turning away from ourselves, our situation, and our condition, and we just look away unto You! Infuse us with Yourself, dear Lord Jesus, and transfuse all that You are into us. We look unto You as the all-inclusive One so that You may minister heaven, life, and strength to us. We look away unto Jesus so that we may be infused with all that He is to enable us to run the heavenly race and to live the heavenly life on earth! Amen, Lord, You can carry us through all the lifelong pathway and You are leading and bringing us into glory! It is only by looking away unto You, dear Lord, that we can run with endurance the race set before us!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Hebrews, msg. 50 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Christian Life, the Church Life, the Consummation of the Age, and the Coming of the Lord (2020 fall ITERO), week 7, Fighting the Good Fight, Finishing the Course, and Loving the Lord’s Appearing.
- Hymns on this topic:
– “Consider Him,” and as you run the race, / Keep ever upward looking in His face; / And thus transformed, illumined thou shalt be, / And Christ’s own image shall be seen in thee. (Hymns #656)
– Look away to Jesus, / Look away from all! / Then we need not stumble, / Then we shall not fall. / From each snare that lureth, / Foe or phantom grim, / Safety this ensureth, / Look away to Him. (Hymns #644)
– Look away into His face—Hallelujah, / He who’ll finish what He did begin. / O what grace to run the race—Hallelujah— / We obtain by looking off to Him! (Hymns #1206)
