Running Home: The Amazing Connections Between Galatians 4-6 and Hebrews 12

We’ve all heard the verse: “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1) What if I told you, though, that this running was a much more complex, deep thing than we ever could imagine?

What if told you that you could grow weary and lose heart? Would you secretly know what that means?

What if those sins we laid aside still drag along at our ankles, threatening to entangle us and drop us to the dirt? Are you stumbling like I am?

What if our loving Heavenly Father brings us sorrow, what if he scourges us in discipline? Is His hand heavy on you?

All these questions weighed on me this morning as my family talked about Hebrews 12…. And then a few minutes later I read Galatians 4-6 in my own readings. Far from the glitz and ease of modern Christianity, there it was, undeniable and sure: Christian life is hard. Galatians exhorts us to not lose heart and grow weary of doing good. Hebrews assures us we will lose heart and grow weary if we aren’t constantly fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. How is it that getting “burned out” while running for Christ is such a present danger? I thought Christian life was sustained, constant joy!

But no, it is possible to stop running the race well. Paul laments to the Galatians, “You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?” (Galatians 5:7). In context, the “who” are false teachers whose teachings spread like leaven and hindered the walks of the Galatians. And the same false teachers present dangers to our walks as Christians today. More than that, our own flesh hates this race we are running! It makes war with the Spirit inside us in Galatians 5, so that we will no longer walk by the Spirit. If our flesh wins, sin springs up. We are entangled again. We stumble and fall. Again. How many times do we bite the dust before we lose the strength to get back up and keep stepping?

Maybe, then, this sets the context for the discipline of God. How is it that our Heavenly Father scourges those whom He loves, His very children? Isn’t this harsh? Won’t this break us already weary race runners? I am so tempted to say “yes” and ask God to give us a break. Can’t He just be that permissive, “all-is-good” god contemporary western religion paints Him as? But then I am reminded in Hebrews 12 that He disciplines us for our good. He knows what is best for us! This said, make no mistake about it: His discipline will be sorrowful. It will hurt. It will hurt. But afterwards, to those who have been trained by it, it will yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

This fruit! Galatians 5 talks about this fruit! The ways Hebrews 12 and Galatians 4-6 intersect are amazing. You probably know what I am getting at: “The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Gal 5:22-23) Oh how much sweeter these fruits are than the filth of the flesh in all its impurity, sensuality, idolatry, strife, jealousy, carousing, and the like!

Is it worth it, then, to walk in the Spirit? Despite the weary moments? Despite the painful discipline of God? Yes, and amen!

If we keep sowing to the Spirit, not only are these fruits ours, but eternal life is ours as well (Ga 6:8-9). At the end of our long, perilous journey, we won’t be led to blazing fire, to darkness or gloom or a whirlwind! We will run to “Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:22-24)

That destination sounds so worth it to me. Doesn’t it to you? Are you ready to make a sacrifice . . . even if it is a personal sacrifice? Here are the nails, and here is the hammer, and here is your flesh that needs to be crucified. This is how we resist to the point of “shedding blood” in our striving against sin. Once we have laid our flesh aside—left it there hanging on a cross—we can start running. But our flesh isn’t there for good…. It will follow. Perhaps that is why we carry our cross…. So we can keep crucifying our old self!

Keep running, despite our flesh’s dogged pursuit. Walk by the Spirit. Be trained by the wise discipline of God. Help bear the burdens of those running with you, but you must bear your own burden as well. Run with endurance. Strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet. Do good to everyone, especially those of the household of faith. Serve one another through love. Don’t grow weary; we will have our reward.

Above all else, fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith. He is the one we are running toward.

And we will be home soon.