We Are Not There Yet

Hebrews 12:1-6 (NLT)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God's throne in heaven. Think about all he endured when sinful people did such terrible things to him, so that you don't become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.
And have you entirely forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you, his children? He said,

"My child, don't ignore it when the Lord disciplines you,
and don't be discouraged when he corrects you.
For the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes those he accepts as his children."



This “great cloud of witnesses” is composed of the people described in Hebrews 11. Their faithfulness is a constant encouragement to us. We do not struggle alone, and we are not the first to struggle with the problems we face.
The Christian life involves hard work, day after day we are tested, pushed and continually tempted by other belief systems and opinions of how the world thinks we should live. Sometimes it would be easier to tell the lie and not go through the pain of someone seeing the mistake that you made. Or the refund that showed up that you didn't have coming to you could sure help you out in this hard time. Lots of people choose the wrong way everyday, but if we can keep our eyes on Jesus, He will reward us for making the right choice, and He will punish us for the wrong ones, but only because of His love does He do it.

As Christians, we are to shine Light into the world by making right choices and running the race as God designed it to be run. Two ways we can build up our defenses to the sin in the world is By staying in the word of God and hearing The message of hope He has for us and by staying in fellowship with Him and the body of Christ. If those two things are done daily, that small voice that leads us from temptation will be easier to hear and will keep you on the right path (Matthew 7:13)