Running To Win In The Race Of Life

Over the last forty years, I have been fortunate to minister to and challenge leaders in more 130 nations. I have invited them to be second-mile, visionary leaders where it is legal and illegal in every world region. With this in mind, I write to extend to you a personal invitation to develop the winning qualities of visionary leadership in your life!

In Hebrews 12:1-3, we read, “Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience (literally with endurance) the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Our Lord has invited us to the contest. God has a race for YOU! Say it to yourself, “GOD HAS A RACE FOR ME!” The idea is that all of us, every one of us, is in the stadium of life. The stadium is packed and jammed with people from all over the world. Just as the Emperor was looking down at these runners so long ago, our Lord from heaven is watching us as we run our race.

In the spiritual realm, we are runners and there is a goal for each of us. We are not running against one another. As far as one another is concerned, we are not in competition with each other.

What are we racing for? We are racing against sin, against self, and against life itself, to win the eternal prize. Our goal is not heaven. We’re not running to try to qualify for heaven. Salvation is not a reward at the end of the race. Salvation is what puts you in the race in the first place. Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, but a gift for the guilty.

The word for race is the Greek word, “agon.” Agon is the word for “agony” today. The Hebrew writer is writing about a marathon. He is talking about a race that is grueling and agonizing. God has a race for you to run in your life.

In addition to the contest, we need to see the crowds. There are those in the grandstand to cheer us on in our race. In chapter 11 of Hebrews, we read about all of the heroes of the faith; a gallery of the great. It is a picture of the saints in heaven. They are called “a great cloud of witnesses.” I am not sure if the saints in heaven are watching us. However, we do know that our Lord is watching us.

These heroes of the faith, inspire us to run at our best. All of us need examples of excellence to challenge us to run better than we have ever done in our life. The life of Nehemiah persuades us to step out into the will of God, even though it will be most difficult, to believe that He will provide the path of success for us! Even though Nehemiah is not mentioned in Hebrews 11, his legacy of leadership challenges us to rebuild the walls of our life for the glory of God. 

Third, conditioning is required to develop the winning qualities hight impact leadership. We read, “Wherefore seeing we are so compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin, which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

When we are running a race, we cannot allow anything to slow us down. There must be discipline if you are going to run to win. Now he mentions two aspects of this discipline. First, there are the weights that slow us down. Then, there are sins that trip us up.

We are to lay aside, every weight...” Onkos is the Greek word for “weight.” There are things in life that are not necessarily wrong, but if they slow us down in the race before us, we need to lay them aside. There is nothing wrong with an overcoat, but it will slow you down in the race. There is nothing wrong with cowboy boots, but wearing them in the race will slow you down.

What does a runner do when he or she runs? He or she strips down to the bare necessities. Here is the point: Good things are bad things if the good things keep us from best things. There are a lot of things that are not necessarily wrong, but they are wrong for us if they slow us down.

In 1 Corinthians 6:12, we read, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient.” When you think of expedient, you think of an expedition. An expedition is something that is going somewhere. Paul is saying that if this thing doesn’t help me to go to the place I am supposed to go to, for me it’s wrong.

I fly hundreds of flights each year. I have not checked a single bag of luggage since 2002. Why? I cannot afford the time of chasing up lost bags or standing at the baggage carousel approximately 6 hours per month or 72 hours per year or 700 hours in a decade!

I don’t have time to read good books because I haven’t read the best ones. Now a good book may be a recreational book because God wants you to have recreation. But so many times we are just simply wasting time. We lay aside every weight that slows us down.

Would you think about some things in your life right now? What is there in your life, if you eliminated it now, you can run the race better? What are you spending time on? What are you spending money on? What are you spending thoughts on? What are you spending energy on? If you eliminated those things, you could get down the track faster. Life would be simpler if it was a choice between good and bad. It is not; it is a choice between good and best and sometimes between best and best.

Then there are the sins that must be laid aside. We read, “the sin which doth so easily beset us.” The Greek word means, “to entangle.” It means to trip you up. We must deal with sin as sin will deal with us.

Pet sins are no friend. We need to treat sin as it will treat us. Be ruthless with your sin. RUTHLESS! Have no mercy on that sin. None! Sin will have no mercy on you. It will entangle you and you will fall; you will fail to win the prize.

Moreover, each of us have a course. We read, “the race that is set before us.” What is your course? What is your race that God has marked out for you?

Has God called you to run the race on the track of music? Has the Lord directed on to the medical track for His glory? Have you been called to be homemaker? Then, get on the track and run at your best. God has set a race before you and before me. My race is not your race; we run the course that is set before us.

I become weary watching Christian leaders race against each other. Each of us are not even on the same track. We are not racing against each other, but against Father Time. The greatest tragedy would be for our life to come to a close and our race be not finished.

Now, if we going to have the qualities of winning leadership, we must have continuance. We are to “run with patience” or “endurance.” We are to bear up under pressure and keep running.

We may leave a song unfinished, a sermon undone, a house unbuilt, a flower unplanted, needlework undone or a book not read. Yet, when it comes to running “the race” that is “marked out for us,” we are called to finish it before our home going takes place. Run with patience! Don’t quit! Don’t quit! Don’t quit!

If we are going to possess the winning qualities of visionary leadership, we will need the best possible coach. In Hebrews 12:2, we read, “Looking unto Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our faith.”

Why do you look unto Jesus? He is the Author of our faith. The word “author” actually means “example.” Faith comes by beholding Jesus Christ. If you are having difficulty with your faith, it is because you haven’t really seen Jesus.

The word “finisher” means the “perfector,” and the “completer.” It means He’s the one who gives you the strength for the race. HE is the Finisher. If you know Him, you are going to finish.

“Looking UNTO Jesus....” Our text doesn’t say, “looking at Jesus,“ but looking unto Jesus.” What’s the difference? Imagine if you have debts that you cannot pay. Yet, you have a friend, who says, “look to me.” He or she is not saying look at me, but look to me. He or she is saying, “Depend upon me. I will see you through. I will take care of you.” It is faith in Jesus, not facts about Jesus. It is looking unto Jesus, not looking at Jesus that gives the strength to run the race.

We are to look away from everything else and put our eyes completely on our example, Jesus Christ. We are not look at Jesus and other things. Don’t put your eyes upon Satan; he will terrify you, or entice you. Don’t put your eyes upon the sins of those for whom Jesus died. Get your eyes off hypocrites, and look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t put your eyes upon yourself.

The devil is so diabolical and deceptive. He will try to get you to look at anything other than Jesus. If you are not careful, he will try to get you to look at your look. He will try to get you examine your faith and to wonder if it is strong enough to run the race. Yet, look to Jesus! Just look away from everything else and look to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the coach. The Lord Jesus is the Author of our faith. The Lord Jesus is the Finisher of our faith.

Last, when you run your God-given race to win, you will receive a crown. We read, “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross.” There was a crown for the Lord Jesus. Do you know what His crown was? You and me! We are the prize that He ran for, all the way to the cross. At the end, he said, “It is finished!”

Each of us, who finish the race the Lord has given to us, will receive a crown. When an athlete would run in the Olympic games two thousand years ago, if he won, his name would be proclaimed throughout the whole country. There would be a parade in his honor. They would scatter flowers across his pathway. The runner would be presented with costly gifts. Sculptors, at government expense, would do statues of the runners who won the race.

Every runner who wins, receives a prize. Are you running to win an eternal prize? I am. I hope you are. The Bible says, “We are to run that we might win.” In 1 Thessalonians 2:19, we read, “For what is our hope, our joy, our crown, our rejoicing? Are not even you at the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?”

Are you in the race that God has marked out for you? If not, get in the race today. You have been given the opportunity to possess the winning qualities of visionary leadership and to run the greatest race of your lifetime upon this earth. It would most tragic for your life to came to a close and your race not to be finished.