As 2023 wraps up, I am reminded of when I was on cheerleading duty as my husband ran his first marathon. To get situated I got a good spot close to the finish line as I waited to watch him finish his race. He had called shortly before he started his race to say “see you at the finish line”, words I remembered as I struggled to find my way there because I didn’t want him to get to the finish line and not find me there cheering him on.
As I waited at the finish line, there was a crowd of witness cheering the racers on and you just have to naturally cheer others on too as so many other families and friends cheered others on and their voices got louder when they see their runner. This scene reminds me of the scripture “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,”
Hebrews 12:1
The awareness of the cloud of witness also encourages you to run with perseverance the race that is marked out. Speaking to some of the runners, and hearing how encouraging it was to hear the crowd cheering them on or reading messages on placards like “You can do this” helped propel the energy to keep going. I remember seeing a runner who heard his friends and family call out his name from the crowd, just started crying but kept running. I couldn’t help my tears too.
The crowd smiled and cried while cheering and this is a confirmation that the crowd is also well vested in the race. Either they had run before or had someone running, they were there because they are vested one way or the other. Hebrews 4:15 "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin".
So it is with the cloud of witnesses mentioned in Hebrews 12. There’s a cloud of witnesses rooting for you as you run your race, feeling all the emotions too and cheering you on, with the One who gave His life for you as the greatest cheerleader of all times. Be encouraged and run, you will finish well.
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- Psalm 65:11: "You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance"
- Psalm 16: 9-11: "Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."
Yours in the Walk.
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