How Do You Run the Christian Race in Hebrews 12:1?

Throughout his epistles Paul likens the Christian life to a race.  

Galatians 2:2  …lest perhaps I had should be running, or had run, in vain.

1 Corinthians 9:26-27 I therefore run in this way, not as though without a clear aim;…

I took this of my nephew running in his
college's regional track meet.

Philippians 3:12-14  Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue, if even I may lay hold of that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus.  
   Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before.
  I pursue toward the goal for he prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called me upward.

2 Timothy 4:7   I have fought the good fight; I have finished the course; I have kept the faith.

Hebrews 12:1-2A Therefore let us also, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, put away every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and run with endurance the race which is set before us, 
     Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith,….

I found this poster on the wall
 of a nearby store

    As I was reading chapter 50 of the Hebrews Life-Study where these verses are brought out, I thought a lot about racing. Over the years I've learned a few things about running from my younger son who worked for a running shop for about five years and led their Tuesday night run. In college he studied industrial design, and his passion is to one day design running shoes. Currently  he works as a rep for a major shoe company. 

 A few years ago he was asked to be the runner for a team that was competing in the Open Recreational Division of our annual Ski to Sea Race. This race begins on Mt. Baker and is followed by running, biking, canoeing, and finally kayaking across the bay to the finish line.   For his part he had to run eight miles down Mt. Baker Highway to where all the bikers were waiting.  He told me this week he ran it in 56 minutes, and that his team got second place in their division.  

      With all of this in mind I texted him a question about what he had learned about running from all his years of experience. And here is his reply: "A good runner in my opinion is someone who is consistent.  Who gets after it every day and doesn't set too lofty of goals so that they fail.  It is a lifestyle of incorporating it into your routine that makes you good.  Of course, endurance, speed, and pacing does't hurt either." 

     In Hebrews 12:1 Paul brings out that the most important thing in running is building up endurance.  He reminds us that the spiritual race parallels a physical race. He was probably envisioning the Olympic races when he said that. And he brings it home when he talks about running without being weighed down. His attitude is like throw it off because you are in a race, and you need to run with all you've got!! On page 566 of chapter 50 Witness Lee gives a great connection between looking away to Jesus and running this spiritual race:

If we look unto Him as such a wonderful and all-inclusive One,...He, ministering heaven, life, and strength to us will transfuse us and infuse us with all that He is to enable us to run the heavenly race and to live the heavenly life on earth, carrying us through all the lifelong pathway and leading and bringing us into glory (2:10). The wonderful Jesus who is enthroned in heaven and "crowned with glory and honor" (2:9) is the greatest attraction in the universe, like an immense magnet drawing all His seekers unto Him. It is by being attracted by His charming beauty that we look away from all things other than Him.  Without such a charming object, how could we look away from so many distracting things on this earth? (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Hebrews. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1975, Print).

Our looking at the Lord infuses us with the Lord's grace that  keeps us running the race!  You can listen to Program #50  on the Life Study of the Bible link below which gives excerpts from his live presentation of what's covered in this chapter.

You can  also listen to live excerpts from these messages on Hebrews on The Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.  You will enjoy listening to both  the excerpts  from these spoken messages and the helpful and enlightening commentary of the radio hosts.

Other Posts on the Life-Study of Hebrews:

Why is the Background of the Book of Hebrews Important?
What Does God's Speaking Show us In Hebrews 1:1-2?
What Does Hebrews 2:10 Say About Christ?
How Does the Lord Sanctify Us In Hebrews 2:11?
Why the High Priest in Hebrews 2:17 Makes Me Think of the Poem Footprints
Why is the Sabbath Rest Mentioned in Hebrews 4:9?
Why Unbelief in Hebrews 3:12 is the Biggest Offense to God
How Do We Come Forward in Hebrews 4:16?
What Hebrews 6:1 Says About Christian Maturity
What Does Hebrews 8 Tell Us About the Differences Between the Old & New Testaments?
What Does It Mean to Gain our Soul in Hebrews 10:39?
Have You Seen God's Silence in Hebrews 11?
How Do You Run the Christian Race in Hebrews 12?
What is the Birthright About in Hebrews 12:16?
From the Life-Study of Hebrews - What is the Central Concept of the Bible?
What's the Focus of the Book of Hebrews?