he book of Hebrews was a letter of encouragement written to Jewish Christians who were discouraged because of the challenges of life and almost at the point of backsliding to their Jewish faith after they had received Christ. It was a letter of encouragement to them to continue in Christ. From the text, the writer of the Book of Hebrews spoke as if he were a sports man. He made us understand that “since we have a huge crowd of men of faith… watching us from the grandstands…” What does that mean?

There are people, men and women, who have served God faithfully before us. Those that have gone through whatever we are going through today and have survived. What we may be going through today are not new. The Bible here paints a word picture of a stadium and “a huge crowd of men of faith… watching us from the grandstands” running  the Christian race. Therefore, the Bible said we should strip off anything that holds us down and they are quite a lot, especially in times like these.

The writer in our text advises us to tear away anything that slows us down in our Christian race especially those sins that wrapped itself round our feet and trip us; more so during these last days where it would be difficult to be a Christian because of the different challenges and things that would happen. As children of God we are still a “work in progress.” Nobody has arrived. No matter the progress you may have made, there must be areas you are still facing some challenges. We must therefore, according to the writer of the book of Hebrews, disregard, fight and push back those things that are hindering us from running at the speed we are expected to. We should run with patience, indicating that the race can be challenging and according to other Bible translations, perseverance because as someone said, “Perseverance conquers all things.” Being a Christian however is not always a bread and butter affair. Of course there are a lot of good things we enjoy as Christians but there are also challenges. As Christians we are to be men and women of all seasons, we must remain uunstoppable.

From our text, there is a general race that is set before us as Christians, the race of making it to heaven. But there is also a particular race [a particular assignment] that God has set before you that makes you unique, a contribution He has determined for you to make. Even as a church, there is a particular race [the ministerial emphasis] set before us. Although it might not be popular or accepted by everybody, the Bible says, run with perseverance and keep pushing it because that is what makes you relevant and the reason you exist.

In doing all of these, we must keep our eyes on Jesus our leader and instructor. The Bible did not say keep your eyes on William Okoye! If you do, you will fail! The Bible says, keep your eyes on Jesus, He is the embodiment on what Christianity is all about. He is the author, finisher and founder of our Christian faith. He has gone through everything and emerged victorious. If we want to live the life God has ordained for us in Christ successfully, we must keep our eyes on Him especially in this time of confusion. We must however follow and live according to our Christian values we are known for.

If you keep your eyes on anybody other than Jesus, you will get discouraged. Whatever else anyone does, just keep your eyes on Jesus. Here is what the Bible says about that:

Paul in Philippians 3: 17 – 21 says, “Dear brothers, pattern your lives after mine, and notice who else lives up to my example. For I have told you often before, and I say it again now with tears in my eyes, there are many who walk along the Christian road who are really enemies of the cross of Christ. Their future is eternal loss, for their god is their appetite: they are proud of what they should be ashamed of; and all they think about is this life here on earth. But our homeland is in heaven, where our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, is; and we are looking forward to his return from there. When he comes back, he will take these dying bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same mighty power that he will use to conquer all else everywhere” [TLB].

Apostle Paul was audacious, courageous enough to say “pattern your life after mine.”! How many can say this to those looking up to us? Also, in 1Corinthisns 11: 1, Paul said, “And you should follow my example, just as I follow Christ’s.” As Christian leaders, this should be a challenge to us, to live exemplary lives, we should live what we preach and not be a stumbling block to those who are looking up to us.

Jesus is a perfect example of a human being who lived in victory over sin, trials and temptations. If Christ had not come as a human being to live the Christian life, then we would be left with no other example. We would have said that there is no way anybody could be successful and live a victorious Christian life except you are God. He came as a human being to show that you can live a Christian life regardless of the situation [Hebrews 2: 14 – 18 TLB]. ”Since we, God’s children, are human beings—made of flesh and blood—he became flesh and blood too by being born in human form; for only as a human being could he die and in dying break the power of the devil who had the power of death… We all know he did not come as an angel but as a human being—yes, a Jew. And it was necessary for Jesus to be like us, his brothers, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God, a Priest who would be both merciful to us and faithful to God in dealing with the sins of the people.  For since he himself has now been through suffering and temptation, he knows what it is like when we suffer and are tempted, and he is wonderfully able to help us.”

In Matthew 4, in the temptation of Jesus, it is the same principle the devil used against Adam and Eve that he used against Jesus – lust of the flesh, pride of life and lust of the eyes. Adam and Eve failed but Jesus showed us that once you depend on the Holy Spirit, you can live victorious. He understands what we are going through and therefore intercedes on our behalf. So, whatever it will take God to intervene in your situation, He will do it to rescue you as long as you are living in obedience [Matthew 14: 22 – 23]. May we not be tempted to look away from Jesus Christ. Amen.