Don't Disappoint the Great Cloud of Witnesses

 June 2, 2024

Sunday

When I was in high school, I didn't especially like to run track. I wasn't that fast. I would not win most races. However, I could run faster when I was on a relay team. There was something about running on the team that made it different from running alone. I felt like I couldn't let the other people down.

The same can be said during COVID when pro football games were played without any fans. They were boring. Evidently, the players played better with fans in the stands.

Of course, I had weeks of preaching without anyone in the sanctuary during COVID too. Those who watched even said that it wasn't the same. I must say I wanted to say that I wasn't performing for people but preaching to furniture (the seats in the sanctuary) wasn't the same as preaching to people I could see.

The writer of Hebrews remarked that we have a great cloud of witnesses. The cloud is singular but it is obvious that it is speaking to a crowd of people. Since we have these witnesses, those people who have gone before us that would make sure that the gospel was provided for us and those people who looked forward to the gospel but did not get to see it in person, we should drop everything that weighs us down so that we can run the race that is set before us.

This tells us that we have a standard to live up to. It means that we have people we should not disappoint. The gospel can't be forgotten by those of us who have reaped its benefits. It must be carried to others or we have disappointed those who have sacrificed to see it come to fruition.

So, let everything drop that doesn't get the task of making disciples of Christ made.This is where we drop the politics, drop the anything that gets in the way of sharing the gospel and see that those who want to know who Jesus is understand that it is a complete commitment to Christ. Anything else means we are weighed down doing what we should be doing and hampered by that weight. 

Run like there is a great crowd cheering you on. They have come to see you win. And when you win, you win for them, too. I think that should make us run a little bit harder.

Hebrews 12:1 (NASB 2020)¹ Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us,