Played out before my eyes

Thanks to my friend Mandy's insightful post, I am reminded of a scene played out in front of me on Saturday. I'm sure this thought will be in my mind all day, mulling it over.

On Saturday, Mandy and I found a spot on the Music City Marathon course that came really close to my house. We were there to cheer on my roommate Wendi and various others from church and work. We ended up surprised, seeing even more people we didn't know were in Nashville running the race.

While waiting for the people we knew to run by, we began cheering for people who were complete strangers to us. Some of the runners had their names written on them, that way we could cheer for them along the way. Imagine hearing your name, just as you think you can't run another 10 yards. You don't recognize the voice, but it doesn't matter. Hearing your name, knowing someone cares enough to cheer you on, gives you that extra boost of energy. The next mile doesn't seem so bad.

Hebrews 12:1 - "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,"

The chapter before tell us of people who were abused, tortured and killed for Christ's sake. That is the crowd of witnesses that compass us on our race toward the goal. They know what the race feels like. They have felt our pains and disappointments. They understand. And they know finishing the race is totally worth it. That is why they are there to cheer us on.

As I look back on Saturday, I didn't know these people running by me. But I was totally pumped to cheer for them. And when I saw someone I knew, my cheer was out of control. Just imagine the cheers going out for you today. The ones from people you don't know personally, but from people who have the same Spirit, same Lord.