Hebrews 12:1 is known by many Christians as the race, but I think we forget many times how important it really is in our lives. It is much deeper than just going through our lives. The verse says "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, 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."
This race is our everyday life and these witnesses are both Christians and non-believers. They are watching our every step because they know that we are believers. It goes on to say that we need to set aside the weights that we have in this world and also the sins that we easily commit. These weights could be anything from stress to simply the situations that we are put in during our lives. Before we can run this race the way we need to, we set aside the weights that we put on ourselves and give them to God. The sin that it is talking about is the sins that we easily fall into. An example of this is someone who has a problem with telling lies. It is telling them to put this sin aside so that we are able run with patience the race that has been set before us. This means the situations that we are given. The race is the way that we go through each situation. The verse tells us to run with patience. We should not do anything rash but rather be slow and steady. This way we do not pick up the weights and the sins that we have set aside when the race takes a toll on us.
From being a pastor’s kid, I know what it is like to have a crowd of witnesses watching every step that I make. We all have that crowd of witnesses, but I have always felt that mine was more judgmental. People expect for me to be perfect because I am a pastor’s kid, but that is not logical. I am no different than any other person. My race should not be judged any differently than any other persons. Pastors, Lawyers, saved, or unsaved should not be judged more harshly simply because of who they are.
We all have this race that we have to run, but it is the way that we run it that defines who we are. Our situations do not define us, it is the way we deal with our situations that define us. This Bible verse does not promise us an easy race, but it does describe to us how to run it.
