“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

In yesterday’s New York Times Sports section there was a three page story about a woman who was stripped of her Triathlon age-group wins in her competitions in Canada.  She apparently removed her timing chips and then shorted her route to get to the finish line.  Anyone who has ever run a Marathon or completed a triathlon are more than offended when someone says they completed a distance, but didn’t. It is cheating and of the worst kind.  The same happens in work when someone who does the work that we do cuts a corner or isn’t honest.  When we know what should be done and how hard it is to compete and complete a challenge, then there is a higher expectation of someone being honest and finishing what has been started.

If we know this, then it is even more incumbent on us to be the people who don’t take the shortcuts or don’t finish what we have started.  If we believe that God equips us for all that we need then with that promise there shouldn’t be anything that we can’t endure.  There should never be a reason to quit or any route to not persevere.  This was our lesson we taught in Sunday school yesterday and it resonated with me that we will all face something where it will be easier to quit or take s shortcut.  We can’t be that person because God told us that we can run any race with endurance.

Reference:  Hebrews 12:1 (New Living Translation)