Hebrews 12:1-3
‘The crowd drives you further’ said Mo Farah, after two
astonishing gold medal victories in the 5 and 10k events at this summer’s
memorable Olympics. He was no exception,
as British athlete after athlete commented on how much the home crowd meant to
them, helping them achieve their best, helping them to push through
psychological doubts, and physical pain barriers, helping them to fix their
eyes on the prize…
As we run with perseverance this race that is called
following Jesus, we will have to resist giving into the consumerism, pluralism,
relativism and secularisation of our society, with its growing intolerance
towards Christians claiming that Jesus is the only hope for this world. We will have to fight against the injustices
of addiction, brokenness, poverty and slavery.
We will be running against the crowd.
Running this race may cost us friends, ambition, status and
material gain… but can you see it, can you fix your eyes on the prize? As you run towards Jesus today, can you hear
the applause of the saints that have endured such suffering and gone before
you? Can you imagine the deafening sound
in the stadium as you run toward the finishing line? Matthew 10:32 says, ‘whoever acknowledges me
before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.’ Can you fathom the jubilation as you cross
the finishing line, and you hear Jesus saying to his heavenly Father– ‘this is
my beloved child who ran so well’
(Trinity College student)