{"id":94336,"date":"2026-03-04T18:41:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T00:41:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=94336"},"modified":"2026-03-04T18:41:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T00:41:53","slug":"running-the-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/running-the-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Running the Race"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Hugh DeLong<\/p>\n<p>Text: Hebrews 12<\/p>\n<p>Paul uses a lot of &#8216;life illustrations&#8217; &#8211; body, temple, army, and sports. The writer of Hebrews now engages one of the sports illustrations &#8211; running. Personally, I dislike running (I prefer biking or other sports instead). But through the years have had to run. In running, particularly anything over a mile, there would always be some that took of in a sprint&#8230; and quickly ran out of gas!<\/p>\n<p>Our life mimics this quite accurately. Our race is not a sprint but a distance run. Some, like my parents, lived to their 90s or even 100. My parents died at 95, grandma died at 102. They navigated the later years knowing they would die, but &#8216;not yet&#8217;. It is the not-yet years that pose different problems and obstacles. <strong>Yet<\/strong>, the one constant is that Jesus is our Lord.<\/p>\n<p>Here we have the suggestion: lay aside that which derails faith. Quit. Walk away. Replace with better thoughts, activities, and associations. People find this a challenge as we have grown comfortable with &#8216;who we are&#8217; and forgotten the &#8216;who we should be&#8217; aspect of living as a disciple.<\/p>\n<p>So, the second admonition is keep your focus set on Jesus and our eternal life lived in God&#8217;s presence. The &#8216;moment&#8217; presents many obstacles, but our goal is to present a greater existence! Keeping your eyes upon Jesus means the same basics that have been taught: read about Him (your bible is still the best source), talk about Him, make friends with His friends, associate and worship together, pray, meditate. It isn&#8217;t a magic formula; it is simply filling your mind with thoughts of Him. Notice a few parallel exhortations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;<em>Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth<\/em>&#8221; (Colossians 3:1-2).<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;<em>Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward&#8230; I press on toward the goal&#8230;<\/em>&#8221; (Philippians 3:13-14, 20).<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;<em>Those who are according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit<\/em>&#8221; (Romans 8:5-6).<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;<em>Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory&#8230;<\/em>&#8221; (Titus 2:13).<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;<em>Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you&#8230;<\/em>&#8221; (I Peter 1:13).<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;<em>We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen<\/em>&#8221; (II Corinthians 4:16-18).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What are <b>you <\/b>looking at? What is the fixation of your life? What do you think about when you have &#8216;nothing to think about&#8217;?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Hugh DeLong Text: Hebrews 12 Paul uses a lot of &#8216;life illustrations&#8217; &#8211; body, temple, army, and sports. The writer of Hebrews now engages one of the sports illustrations &#8211; running. Personally, I dislike running (I prefer biking or other sports instead). But through the years have had to run. In running, particularly anything&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[41],"class_list":["post-94336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-life"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":84038,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-race\/","url_meta":{"origin":94336,"position":0},"title":"The Race","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"The race that is set before us\" (Hebrews 12:1) is the marathon of all marathons, the life-long run to finish without giving up. It is the race to receive the ultimate reward. The prize is more than worth the discipline, so the motivation to enter this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46445,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/run-with-endurance\/","url_meta":{"origin":94336,"position":1},"title":"Run with Endurance","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dennis Stackhouse We have a wonderfully challenging statement given to us in Hebrews 12:1:\u00a0\"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Runner-180x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":63409,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/running-with-the-horses\/","url_meta":{"origin":94336,"position":2},"title":"Running with the Horses","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Jeremiah 11:1-17 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Proverbs 14:10 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Each of us carry burdens in this life \u2013 problems which are difficult to bear. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They cause us anxiety and disturb our sleep if we dwell on them. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We try to put them out of our mind, but suddenly a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29474,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-sports\/","url_meta":{"origin":94336,"position":3},"title":"Notes on Sports","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Few engaged in activities purely for entertainment. Sports served practical purposes in gathering food or protection. However, some of these activities were done for competition and the winning of a prize. Competition 1 Corinthians 9:25 \"And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Notes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91813,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/competition\/","url_meta":{"origin":94336,"position":4},"title":"Competition","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores No parent wants their child to feel left out, unappreciated, or useless. That's understandable, but the answer for some was to stop keeping score for sporting events so there would be no winners or losers and award \"participation trophies\" to everyone who showed up. \"There, that ought\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56378,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-does-discipline-become-abuse\/","url_meta":{"origin":94336,"position":5},"title":"When does discipline become abuse?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When does discipline cross the line and become abuse? My cousin hit her son in the chest with a closed fist as a form of discipline. It was her non-dominant hand and not with full force. Admittedly, her son has behavior issues and didn't seem too fazed by my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94336\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}