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"Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
(Hebrews 12:1-2, CSB)
In the world of CrossFit, we are currently in the midst of "the Open": a 3 week event where three workouts get released one week at a time and athletes do these workouts and submit their times. The workouts are called 24.1, 24.2, and 24.3. They are called this because we are in the year 2024 and 1, 2, or 3 just stands for what workout number it is (nothing fancy).
"The Open" is for anyone who wants to compete in the CrossFit Games that happen every year; it is the starting place for the Games. To qualify for the Games, you first have to make it past the Open. If your scores are good enough in the Open, then you will qualify for the quarterfinals, with hopes of making it to the semifinals, with ultimate hopes of making it to the CrossFit games.
Now, why am I telling you about all this? Well, Kyndall and I are doing the workouts for the first time, but there is NO WAY we are qualifying or coming even close to qualifying for the quarterfinals. We love doing this because our gym has a lot of people who are doing the Open, and we love working out and seeing how other people are doing in their fitness journeys.
While doing these workouts and sweating and struggling, I thought to myself, "This is a lot like the Christian life." Hebrews 12 tells us that in this life, as followers of Jesus, God has set a race before us, and we are to run this race with endurance. This race of the Christian life has many challenges and obstacles, but it has lots of other people who are also running with us! We as followers of Jesus can know that we are not the only ones struggling to run a race with endurance; we have our brothers and sisters in Christ who are also running with us. Think about all the people who are running the race RIGHT NOW. You have people all over the world, of all ages, of all colors; you have people who have just started running and people who are near finishing their race. There are so many people who are in the race of the Christian life, and the author of Hebrews gives us the key to this race: "Keeping our eyes on Jesus."
The Open workouts are meant for people to keep their eyes on getting to the CrossFit Games. We keep our eyes on Jesus because He is the author and perfecter of our faith. He is our running example. He is our help in running the race. He is the one who the whole race is about and the one seated at the right hand of God!
Today, don't get discouraged in your walk with Jesus, think about it as a tough mile in the race that God has called you to run. Think of your brothers and sisters in Christ who are also on a tough mile right now, and keep on running with your eyes on Jesus. Today, if things are going great, thank God for the good miles and for the good times of running, and keep setting your eyes on Jesus.
We all have a race to run, so let's keep our eyes on Jesus... and we can be thankful it's not a CrossFit competition that we all have to do. :)
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