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Lay it Aside

By December 21, 2018January 10th, 2019No Comments

Don’t let something very small keep you from something very big. We are talking about endurance here. So in our journey through life, we figure out that life is a marathon and not a sprint. We learn that the more stuff we carry, the harder it is to go on in your journey. Back to high school for a moment. I ran half mile, the mile and sometimes the two-mile race. What I learned quickly in training was that the longer you were supposed to run, the lighter you want to be. 

As a runner in the race of life, we don’t want to let something that is unnecessary to our progress or journey or destiny affect us. Let some stuff go. Let go by forgiveness and trusting things to God. 

We all have blind spots. Areas that we are most vulnerable to temptation or sinful behavior. As we are walking this out, we recognize the areas that we fall easily in. In our journey, we make intentional decisions to not enter into those areas of sin. If God has delivered you from alcohol, don’t go to the bar to drink Coke. Don’t set yourself up to fail. If you have sexual temptation, don’t put yourself into situations where you can sin. Recognize your weak spot and be on the defense. 

The word of endurance is the word “huponome”. It is one of the great Bible words. Christ, Peter, Paul and James all talked about it. It means “patience, steadfastness, to remain in one’s spot, to keep a position, to keep territory that has been gained”. This was a word that was used to describe soldiers that had taken ground and were now called to keep that ground. It didn’t matter how hard it was. This was their assignment. This word means staying power, hanging in there power. This is the refusal to give up. The early church called this word the queen of virtues. 

God wants us to run with endurance. How does endurance come? It comes by pushing your limits and by stretching yourself in your walk with God. I started off playing basketball in high school. But in my junior year, I decided to go out for track. I noticed I would get tired after a quarter of a mile. I realized I was fast but I wasn’t in endurance shape. Basketball shape was one thing. Track shape was a whole different animal. So to get in shape, I’d run 5 to 10 miles a day. After I ran five to ten miles a day consistently, I didn’t get exhausted when I ran the races. I built up my endurance. 

You build up your spiritual endurance by pushing yourself. By allowing God to finish the work he is doing in you through whatever situation you are in currently. Don’t tell people or God that you can’t make it. It’s not true. God is taking you through the situation you are in to help you get to the place where you have endurance. 

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