| Commentary and Philosophy Non-Fiction posted November 27, 2021 |
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This is a revelation for me. You probably already know it.it
It's ME!
by DeboraDyess
Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter[b] of our faith. For the joy that lay before him,[c] he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1b-2
I hate to run.
I seem to remember that this wasn’t always the case, but even that memory is blurred and frayed around the edges, kind of like an old Polaroid that was stored incorrectly. Somewhere in the back of my mind, packed away like a cluttered junk drawer, I can find images of me running in absolute joy and abandon, pretending to be a cowboy riding a horse or, more often, pretending to be a horse romping through the pastures. Running just to run. Racing the wind. Spreading my imagination and my legs and flying with my friends in pure happiness.
But not now.
On the rare occasions when I run now, I feel areas of fat jiggling. I feel knee and foot pain. I feel breathless indignation as my heart hammers against my chest, trying to knock loud enough to remind me of my age and sad lack of this kind of exercise.
I want to run… I think. I imagine the experience the way it should be, wind whipping my hair, my muscles stretching and enduring and defeating the things that hold me back.
But the reality is… That’s either a long time ago or a while in the future. My now does not include a lot of running.
Walking, yes. I love to walk. I walk with my doggie-beast anywhere from two to five miles many days of the week. On days when we miss that mark, I really miss it. I lament that we were lazy, that the weather was horrible, or that my schedule didn’t allow for such luxury.
So, I know, somewhere deep (and I do mean deep) inside my heart that if I started running again I’d love it.
It’s the getting there that’s holding me back.
I wonder what’s holding back my spiritual running.
Oh, I can walk just fine. I can even work up a healthy spiritual jog. But running? Hmm…
I’m not even entirely sure what that looks like.
But I do know this – in order to do it right I need to keep my eyes on Jesus, who,
“for the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross”.
And that leads me to a question that I’ve never, in half a century of following Christ, considered…
What joy?
He endured the cross for joy. That’s what it says, right?
What joy?
He already had Heaven. He had it long before we were even a glimmer in His creative eye. He is, after all, God, part of that hard to understand God-head, three in one. So Heaven was already His. All He had to do was leave here.
Okay, not Heaven.
Ah, I got it! The Father’s favor.
Wait, no, that’s not it, either. He had God’s favor. He said this: “I and the Father are one.”
So not that, either.
Again, what joy?
And then it occurred to me, rushing into this thick skull like a gust of wind in the middle of winter, just as strong, just as startling.
It’s probably well-known in theological circles and probably was figured out by those first Hebrews who got the letter. But for me it was revolutionary.
I am the joy.
Me.
My faith in God through Christ. Mine and yours if you follow Jesus.
The only thing that changed because of His death on that horrid cross and the resurrection that followed is the ability of sinners to confess, repent and come to God with a righteousness born of Jesus.
So I am Christ’s Joy.
It kind of puts a different tilt on that spiritual running. I want to run like the wind, with spiritual newness and might. I want to run with my Lord through new and unknown ideas and abilities. I want to run with Him and for Him. Because I, the goofiest of His followers, am His joy.
Wow…
Thank you, Jesus, for enduring that nightmare for me. I guess I’ve known for many decades that I’m the reason you endured the shame and disgrace, the pain and the hatred. I’ve known and embraced that. But now You’ve shown me that I’m joy for You. Let me act on that in a new way, accepting that new revelation and reality.
Amen and amen.
Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter[b] of our faith. For the joy that lay before him,[c] he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1b-2
I hate to run.
I seem to remember that this wasn’t always the case, but even that memory is blurred and frayed around the edges, kind of like an old Polaroid that was stored incorrectly. Somewhere in the back of my mind, packed away like a cluttered junk drawer, I can find images of me running in absolute joy and abandon, pretending to be a cowboy riding a horse or, more often, pretending to be a horse romping through the pastures. Running just to run. Racing the wind. Spreading my imagination and my legs and flying with my friends in pure happiness.
But not now.
On the rare occasions when I run now, I feel areas of fat jiggling. I feel knee and foot pain. I feel breathless indignation as my heart hammers against my chest, trying to knock loud enough to remind me of my age and sad lack of this kind of exercise.
I want to run… I think. I imagine the experience the way it should be, wind whipping my hair, my muscles stretching and enduring and defeating the things that hold me back.
But the reality is… That’s either a long time ago or a while in the future. My now does not include a lot of running.
Walking, yes. I love to walk. I walk with my doggie-beast anywhere from two to five miles many days of the week. On days when we miss that mark, I really miss it. I lament that we were lazy, that the weather was horrible, or that my schedule didn’t allow for such luxury.
So, I know, somewhere deep (and I do mean deep) inside my heart that if I started running again I’d love it.
It’s the getting there that’s holding me back.
I wonder what’s holding back my spiritual running.
Oh, I can walk just fine. I can even work up a healthy spiritual jog. But running? Hmm…
I’m not even entirely sure what that looks like.
But I do know this – in order to do it right I need to keep my eyes on Jesus, who,
“for the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross”.
And that leads me to a question that I’ve never, in half a century of following Christ, considered…
What joy?
He endured the cross for joy. That’s what it says, right?
What joy?
He already had Heaven. He had it long before we were even a glimmer in His creative eye. He is, after all, God, part of that hard to understand God-head, three in one. So Heaven was already His. All He had to do was leave here.
Okay, not Heaven.
Ah, I got it! The Father’s favor.
Wait, no, that’s not it, either. He had God’s favor. He said this: “I and the Father are one.”
So not that, either.
Again, what joy?
And then it occurred to me, rushing into this thick skull like a gust of wind in the middle of winter, just as strong, just as startling.
It’s probably well-known in theological circles and probably was figured out by those first Hebrews who got the letter. But for me it was revolutionary.
I am the joy.
Me.
My faith in God through Christ. Mine and yours if you follow Jesus.
The only thing that changed because of His death on that horrid cross and the resurrection that followed is the ability of sinners to confess, repent and come to God with a righteousness born of Jesus.
So I am Christ’s Joy.
It kind of puts a different tilt on that spiritual running. I want to run like the wind, with spiritual newness and might. I want to run with my Lord through new and unknown ideas and abilities. I want to run with Him and for Him. Because I, the goofiest of His followers, am His joy.
Wow…
Thank you, Jesus, for enduring that nightmare for me. I guess I’ve known for many decades that I’m the reason you endured the shame and disgrace, the pain and the hatred. I’ve known and embraced that. But now You’ve shown me that I’m joy for You. Let me act on that in a new way, accepting that new revelation and reality.
Amen and amen.
Hebrews 12:1b-2
I hate to run.
I seem to remember that this wasn’t always the case, but even that memory is blurred and frayed around the edges, kind of like an old Polaroid that was stored incorrectly. Somewhere in the back of my mind, packed away like a cluttered junk drawer, I can find images of me running in absolute joy and abandon, pretending to be a cowboy riding a horse or, more often, pretending to be a horse romping through the pastures. Running just to run. Racing the wind. Spreading my imagination and my legs and flying with my friends in pure happiness.
But not now.
On the rare occasions when I run now, I feel areas of fat jiggling. I feel knee and foot pain. I feel breathless indignation as my heart hammers against my chest, trying to knock loud enough to remind me of my age and sad lack of this kind of exercise.
I want to run… I think. I imagine the experience the way it should be, wind whipping my hair, my muscles stretching and enduring and defeating the things that hold me back.
But the reality is… That’s either a long time ago or a while in the future. My now does not include a lot of running.
Walking, yes. I love to walk. I walk with my doggie-beast anywhere from two to five miles many days of the week. On days when we miss that mark, I really miss it. I lament that we were lazy, that the weather was horrible, or that my schedule didn’t allow for such luxury.
So, I know, somewhere deep (and I do mean deep) inside my heart that if I started running again I’d love it.
It’s the getting there that’s holding me back.
I wonder what’s holding back my spiritual running.
Oh, I can walk just fine. I can even work up a healthy spiritual jog. But running? Hmm…
I’m not even entirely sure what that looks like.
But I do know this – in order to do it right I need to keep my eyes on Jesus, who,
“for the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross”.
And that leads me to a question that I’ve never, in half a century of following Christ, considered…
What joy?
He endured the cross for joy. That’s what it says, right?
What joy?
He already had Heaven. He had it long before we were even a glimmer in His creative eye. He is, after all, God, part of that hard to understand God-head, three in one. So Heaven was already His. All He had to do was leave here.
Okay, not Heaven.
Ah, I got it! The Father’s favor.
Wait, no, that’s not it, either. He had God’s favor. He said this: “I and the Father are one.”
So not that, either.
Again, what joy?
And then it occurred to me, rushing into this thick skull like a gust of wind in the middle of winter, just as strong, just as startling.
It’s probably well-known in theological circles and probably was figured out by those first Hebrews who got the letter. But for me it was revolutionary.
I am the joy.
Me.
My faith in God through Christ. Mine and yours if you follow Jesus.
The only thing that changed because of His death on that horrid cross and the resurrection that followed is the ability of sinners to confess, repent and come to God with a righteousness born of Jesus.
So I am Christ’s Joy.
It kind of puts a different tilt on that spiritual running. I want to run like the wind, with spiritual newness and might. I want to run with my Lord through new and unknown ideas and abilities. I want to run with Him and for Him. Because I, the goofiest of His followers, am His joy.
Wow…
Thank you, Jesus, for enduring that nightmare for me. I guess I’ve known for many decades that I’m the reason you endured the shame and disgrace, the pain and the hatred. I’ve known and embraced that. But now You’ve shown me that I’m joy for You. Let me act on that in a new way, accepting that new revelation and reality.
Amen and amen.
I read somewhere that, in order to make Bible study ore effective, one should write a song, draw a picture or journal about what God is revealing to them through the Scriptures.
this is mine from today. I cannot help but write as if I have readers. lol.
So I decided to have readers.
I know not all my FS friends believe as I do, but I hope you'll take a second and read anyway. :) I'll return the favor.
Blessings, all!
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. this is mine from today. I cannot help but write as if I have readers. lol.
So I decided to have readers.
I know not all my FS friends believe as I do, but I hope you'll take a second and read anyway. :) I'll return the favor.
Blessings, all!
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