I am not a runner, but one thing I know about runners is that they prepare before running a race. They eat the right foods, drink the right amount of water, stretch, take the necessary rest days, and more. Their performance is often dependent on their preparation. For example, the person who prepares in all the necessary ways for a race will likely succeed over the person who runs with absolutely no preparation. In other words, each runner of a race is largely dependent on themselves and their preparation for their success in a race. This is not so in the spiritual races that God has set before us. We are not dependent on ourselves for our success. God goes before us, walks with us, and produces fruit in us. As we run the race He has set before us in obedience and faith, He produces fruit in us.
The author of Hebrews reminds us that God produces fruit in us as we follow and obey Him. As his book came to an end, he wrote a prayer in Hebrews 13, the last chapter of this book of the Bible. He wrote, “May the God of peace—Who brought up from the dead Our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with His blood—may He equip you with all you need for doing His will” (verses 20-21). Do not miss the incredible truth taught in these verses: As we seek to follow God and obey Him, He equips us. Not only does God equip us as we seek to follow Him, He equips us with “all we need.” What a promise we have to claim! The author of Hebrews continued writing, “May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to Him” (verse 21). Through the power of Christ, God produces good things in us. That means that we are not left alone to run the spiritual races that God has set before us. He works in and through us to become more like Christ.
As you run your race, may you seek to follow and obey Christ with everything within you. May you also run with confidence, knowing that God is working in and through you every single day to help you run the race that He has set before you well. Praise God that He does not leave us alone to live this life and run the race that He has set before us alone!
Praise God that He works in us in ways we could never imagine as we faithfully follow Him. Specifically, make plans to worship Him this weekend at one of our weekend services. Praise Him for the ways He works in and through us in order to make us more like Christ.
1Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! 3 Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.
4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.
5 Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,
“I will never fail you.
I will never abandon you.”
6 So we can say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper,
so I will have no fear.
What can mere people do to me?”
7 Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.
10 We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. 12 So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. 13 So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore. 14 For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.
15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. 16 And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.
17 Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.
18 Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do. 19 And especially pray that I will be able to come back to you soon.
20 Now may the God of peace—
who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great Shepherd of the sheep,
and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—
21 may he equip you with all you need
for doing his will.
May he produce in you,
through the power of Jesus Christ,
every good thing that is pleasing to him.
All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.
22 I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, to pay attention to what I have written in this brief exhortation.
23 I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released from jail. If he comes here soon, I will bring him with me to see you.
24 Greet all your leaders and all the believers there. The believers from Italy send you their greetings.
25 May God’s grace be with you all.
