It's Time to Start Living

It’s Time to Start Living

In a culture drowning in comfort, complacency and apathy become our second nature before we even notice. It’s often easier to sit back and watch than to take action. And then when we step out of our comfort zones, it’s almost never as we expected—tornados spin every Truth we hold on to. Life gets sticky. On our own, the only thing we can think of is running away—and fast.

Let’s take a look at what the Word has to say about this:

“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. We do this by keeping
our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy
awaiting Him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of
honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you
won’t become weary and give up. After all you have not yet given your lives in a struggle against
sin.”
(Hebrews 12:1-4)

1) Right away in verse one we see the idea of our sphere of influence. Our “crowd of witnesses” is our co-workers, our family, our community, our world, and the people who have invested and poured into us. People are watching how we respond. (v1)
2) Our response to on-lookers should be to say “adios” to our distractions. The author of Hebrews describes our sin like road blocks to living fully in the Will of God. When Jesus died for us, he unlocked our chains. In order to live in complete freedom, we have to make the choice to throw our chains off and start running. We can look like a bunch of idiots if we choose to live dragging our unlocked chains everywhere we go. Jesus says our junk is as far from Him as the East is from the West; His full and complete forgiveness means that He’s forgotten about our mistakes, we have to forget about them, too! Your past does not define your present; Jesus defines your present. When we carry our chains even though the victory has already been won, the enemy can easily beat us up about it. He will try to convince us that what Jesus did wasn’t enough to set us completely free. Just throw off the chains, and start living in the freedom you are called to live in as a son or daughter of the King. (v1)
3) After aligning our thoughts and actions with the Word of God and freedom in Jesus, this Hebrews passage says we must endure. (v1)
4) How? “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” (v2). Keep your eyes fixed on the Truth of who Jesus is and who He says you are.
5) Why do we need to endure? Junk happens. Jesus endured the cross “because of the joy awaiting Him” (v2). We need to do the same, pick up our own cross for the joy of knowing Him (Matthew 16:24).
6) God molds our character when we endure hardship. Romans 5:4 “and endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”
7) Learning to endure and to step out even when it’s sticky isn’t even kind of easy. But when discouragement comes, the author of Hebrews tells us in verse 3 that Jesus experienced more pain by carrying our sin. That same power that Jesus has lives in us through the Holy Spirit. Nothing is “too hard” to endure when Jesus is on our side.

Well, where do we go from here?
“So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees.
Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.”
(Hebrews 12:12-13)

It’s time to start living.