SELAH Daily Devotions!
…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run 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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2
Apparently, somewhere along the way, many of today’s contemporary Christians have picked up the erroneous impression, that The Road of Salvation is a meticulously manicured lawnscape—free of sticks and stones, crabgrass and weeds, lumps and humps and especially parasital insects.
Now! Given my extreme paranoia of bugs, I certainly don’t profess to be no expert in the science of horticulture, however I don’t think it would be going too far out on a limb to suggest that our neighbor’s lusciously green tarp (that we so yearn for) involved a certain moderate-to hard-working-up-sweat-hands-dirty-knee-dropping-diligence and discipline. Right?
So what makes us think that the most important road-trip we’ll ever take, our journey from Earth to Glory, would be a choreographed Boogaloo-Down-Broadway?
I can’t tell you how many times I find myself reminding myself that all of those ‘cheering witnesses’ we stagger at in Hebrews 11’s Hall of Faith, were just plain ordinary everyday folk, just like you and me, who faced the same struggles, tests and trails that we confront. Yet, because they kept their eyes focused on the prize, they overcame their life’s challenges, successfully!
While we understand, at least on some level, the reason that The Apostle Paul compares our walk with Jesus to a race, we have a tendency to think of it as a sprint, rather than a marathon! Okay, here’s how it is—it ain’t a one and done thing! The Master Husbandman, The Sovereign Creator, GOD, has allowed certain interruptions, along our way, that are strategically designed to develop and grow us up into perfect spiritual maturity.
The scriptures reveal that our forerunner, God’s Son, JESUS, learned obedience through his sufferings. (Ref. Hebrews 5:8)
Now, don’t get it twisted; this doesn’t mean that Jesus was ever disobedient to His Father, but rather, His suffering enabled him to intimately-identify with what we endure in our wilderness experiences!
Paul instructs us to study how Jesus did it and follow His lead. Begin with stripping down—laying aside anything that would slow us down—like un-repented sin, unrealized fears, unspoken doubts and worries and concentrating on the Joy at the completion of the mission.
The mission for which HE was SENT, Salvation, Redemption and Restoration of God’s most precious creation—us—empowered Our Lord to look past the pain and the shame of The Cross and not quit until He’d Won our Victory!
My brothers and sisters, seeing we have such A Great High Priest, who promised to be with us all the way, don’t give in to that lying Accuser, Satan.!
Take a big whist of that ‘second wind’ (GRACE) and discipline your mind, body and spirit and keep it movin’. After all, we’re not just hurling aimlessly toward a phantom mirage; this is a sure thing we’re running after!
God has planned a Great Celebration at the finish line for us! STAY IN IT TO WIN IT!
SELAH!
Pause, Ponder, Pray & Praiz!
Ann Caffee
SELAH Daily Devotions 