December 20, 2016 Bible Study — Running The Race

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Hebrews 12-13.

    Just like when running a race, we need to put aside those things which do not help us serve the Lord. This includes sin, but not just sin. If there are things in our life which do not help us do God’s work, we need to cut them out of our lives. If we do not, God will do so for us. Like any good father, or coach, God will discipline us so that we become more disciplined (see what I did there?). When we become tired and are tempted to give up we need to keep our eyes on Christ and remember the suffering He experienced before He received His glory from God. We have not yet given our lives in service to God, we can “run” a little longer, we can carry the burden a little further. God is like an experienced coach. He knows exactly how much training we need to put in. He knows what we need to be eating (both physically and spiritually). He knows when we need to take some time to rest and recuperate from our training (both physically and mentally). When we do not do as He instructs, He will punish us with exercises which will make us better able to win the “race” for which He is preparing us.

    As the writer concludes his letter he makes a series of small points which are not directly connected, but which in a way form a coherent whole. I am not quite sure how I am going to get these various statements into a single thought. We are instructed to work at living in peace with everyone and to work at living a holy life. Further the writer tells us to not let bitterness grow up within us, or among us. These three are pretty easy to put together. Bitterness will lead us into conflict with others, and conflict can engender bitterness, either in ourselves or in those with whom we have conflict (or both). However, the writer is not just telling us to not be bitter, he is telling us to root out bitterness among our fellow believers. If we see bitterness taking hold among our fellow believers we need to work at getting rid of it.
    As I wrote that last sentence I realized how all of these fit together because much of the rest of what he writes here amount to instructions about how to keep our fellowship clear of bitterness. If we look after each other, love one another, and show hospitality to strangers we will nip bitterness in the bud whenever it starts to crop up. If we are satisfied with what we have we will not become bitter about those who have more. If we remember those who are in prison or being mistreated as if we were suffering the same, we will not take actions which will cause others to be bitter. If all of our interactions with those around us are rooted in love, we will help them to not be bitter about those who may have failed to act out of love.