Kaila Café: An inspirational blog serving up the fresh Word of God Organic Style: Run For Your Life! (Urgent Message from God)

When God said to me out of the clear blue one day, "Run for your life!" I had to stop and make sure I was hearing Him correctly. I wasn't in any imminent danger. I was sitting on my bed, and everything in my world seemed calm. 'Could I be in danger and not know it?' I thought. What exactly was God trying to tell me? It wasn't until later in the week that His meaning became clear.

During my devotional time, I was reading Hebrews 12:1-2 that says, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." There it was in plain sight! The Holy Spirit was speaking to me about the Christian race we're in, and He was telling me I've got to run to live!

Hebrews 11 tells us about the saints who've gone on before us in the great Hall of Faith. They've run their race, and it's as if they're sitting in the bleachers cheering us on. Some of us are running at faster speeds than others, but we know that the race is ultimately not about speed. It's a race of endurance (Ecclesiastes 9:11). We have to be the type of runners who run with purpose. We can't do a lazy run, or get distracted by what may be happening on the sidelines. We have to look straight ahead to the joy that awaits us at the finish line just as Jesus did. The writer of Hebrews told us to take Jesus as our example. The end of Jesus's earthly race included a cross, which was a symbol of shame. Still, despite the shame and pain, Christ set His eyes on the joy of having fellowship with you and me and redeeming us to the Father. You were enough to help Him press on to the finish line.

So, you and I, friend, have to run to live. Some runners run with weights to help them build muscle and burn more calories. God puts different weights on each of us depending on the types of trials we face. These body weights are not the type of weight Hebrews 12 is telling us to avoid. The weight we need to lay aside is anything that would try to stop or trip us up as we run. I'm reminded of the story of Joseph as an example. When Joseph was serving in Potiphar's house after he'd been sold into slavery, Potiphar's wife took a liking to him. She ended up trying to seduce him because she saw that he was favored, had a spirit of excellence, and the brother was fine!

Joseph rejected her advances until one day she couldn't take anymore. "She caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me." But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside" (Genesis 39:12). Joseph literally ran for his life! Hebrews 12 is warning us to do the same thing when faced with temptation. Throw off anything that would cause you to sin and run to save your spiritual and physical life. You have to face forward and stay focused on the joy of Jesus in order to win. Let this word encourage you on your Christian race to run as if you're going for gold.