Hebrews 12:1-3

Hebrews 12:1-3 reminds me of the book Resident Aliens and the concept of being a part of a cloud of witnesses. Picture your family. There are those who came before and those children who will remain when you are gone. Our heavenly family consists of the church, those who came before us and left us a legacy. And there are those we train or give hope by our example. They will remain and do likewise after we are gone.
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I thought of some people who had a major influence in my walk over the years. I did a quick prayer for each of them. I’m sure I missed some. I know that some have died and gone to their reward. There is one man who was my age. He has already died. I found out after sending him a Christmas card. His wife replied with a nice letter. That was a bit of a shock. Perhaps he was never the most robust man. Still it was unexpected. I know a couple of saints who died pretty young. In both their cases I can rationalize that they were people who were never really of this world. The world, even we worldly Christians, saw them as odd. They never totally fit in. They could not keep steady jobs and it was not for trying. They might do things that seemed out of place. Some might think them crazy. But looking back, after they have gone it seems their going early was appropriate. God bless them. I know he does and has.

We fix our eyes on Jesus. Paul likes the image of the race. One wonders whether he might have done some racing when he was young. You run for the goal. The goal is heaven. You fix your eyes on Jesus who has already finished. He is encouraging you on. He has shown it can be done, with his help.

We have the cloud of Old Testament witnesses. We have Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Jesus endured to the end. So can we. We do not experience the hostility that Jesus did. And even if we did, it would only show that we are on the right track, not the wrong track. The Hebrews and others were tempted to think that since they were experiencing such persecution that might be a sign they were on the wrong track. Some people were using their situation to tell them so. But Jesus endured even more and he was the Son of God! So we can be persecuted and still be right. The author has nothing but condemnation for those who would tempt them to go back to being regular old Jews.

For us in daily living we can think roadblocks to some cherished goal means we were wrong to seek that goal. Not necessarily. It can simply mean we must try harder. I think if we still have the burden, if the attempting still gives us joy it may not be wrong at all. It may just mean the harder work will make us stronger and help to make us finally successful. God usually gives us a strong burden and joy in the attempt. Even if the results do not turn out as we like, that may be enough to show us we are on the right track.