B
The Christian life is a race; every saved Christian must run the race to win the prize (1 Cor. 9:24); the prize is not salvation in the common sense (Eph. 2:8; 1 Cor. 3:15) but a reward in a special sense (Heb. 10:35; 1 Cor. 3:14); the apostle Paul ran the race and won the prize (9:26-27; Phil. 3:13-14; 2 Tim. 4:7-8):
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An encumbrance is a weight, burden, or impediment; the runners of the race strip off every unnecessary weight, every encumbering burden, that nothing may impede them from winning the race.
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The unique entangling sin in this context was the willful sin of forsaking the assembling together with the saints, of giving up the new covenant way in God's economy, and of going back to Judaism (Heb. 10:26); both the encumbering weight and the entangling sin would have frustrated the Hebrew believers and restrained them from running the heavenly race in the new covenant way of following Jesus.
C
We need to run with endurance, asking the Lord to direct our hearts into the love of God and into the endurance of Christ—2 Thes. 3:5:
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This love is our love toward God, issuing from the love of God (1 John 4:19) that has been poured out in our hearts (Rom. 5:5).
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This endurance is to endure with the endurance of Christ that we have enjoyed and experienced—cf. Rev. 1:9.
Morning Nourishment
Heb. 12:1 …Let us also…put away every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and run with endurance the race which is set before us.1 Cor. 9:24 …Those who run on a racecourse all run… Run in this way, that you may lay hold.
2 Thes. 3:5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the endurance of Christ.
The Christian life is a race. Every saved Christian must run the race to win the prize (1 Cor. 9:24). This prize is not salvation in a common sense (Eph. 2:8; 1 Cor. 3:15), but a reward in a special sense (Heb. 10:35; 1 Cor. 3:14). The apostle Paul, who has run the race and won the prize, was nearly the only one who likened the Christian life to a race. In the book of Hebrews he charged the Hebrew believers to run the race, saying, “run with endurance the race which is set before us” (12:1). (Life-study of Hebrews, p. 559)
Today’s Reading
The race [is] not perfection or glorification, for that is the goal of the race. Neither is the race the inward working of the law of life, for that is the process of the race. The race is not even the losing of the soul, because that is the way to run the race; it is not the race itself… The Lord… in John 14:6 [said], “I am the way.” A race is a way, a course. Because Christ is the way, He is also the race. The race we are running is Christ. In the universe God has prepared the unique way which we must take… Before Christ was manifested, God used types to signify this matter of Christ as God’s way, the most striking of which was the tabernacle… [In] the tabernacle there is a way, starting from the altar; passing through the laver, the show-bread table, the lampstand, and the incense altar; and ushering us into the Ark, the place where the law of life is. The way in the tabernacle is a picture of Christ as our unique way. In Hebrews 6 Paul told us to flee [v. 18]. We must flee everything into the Holy of Holies where our Forerunner, Jesus Christ, has entered within the veil. This is what it means to run the race.[In] Hebrews 12:1… encumbrance may also be rendered “weight,” “burden,” “impediment.” The runners in a race must strip off every unnecessary weight, every encumbering burden, that they might have no impediment to winning the race. Notice that here Paul says “us,” not “you,” including himself in this matter. “The sin which so easily entangles us” [v. 1]… refers mainly to the thing which entangles us from running the race, just as the willful sin mentioned in 10:26 would keep the Hebrew believers away from the new covenant way in God’s economy. Both the encumbering weight and the entangling sin would frustrate the Hebrew believers and restrain them from running the heavenly race in the new covenant way of following the Jesus who was rejected by Judaism… The sin mentioned in 12:1 is particular and unique, for Paul uses the definite article, saying, “the sin.” This unique, entangling sin was the willful sin of forsaking the assembling together with the saints, of giving up the new covenant way, and of going back to Judaism.
There is much opposition to this race. Thus, we must run it with endurance (12:1). This means that in order to run the race of Christ, we must suffer the opposition with endurance, never growing weary or fainting in our souls. (Life-study of Hebrews, pp. 559-560, 563-564)
The Lord directs our hearts [2 Thes. 3:5] by the leading of the Spirit, through whom the love of God has been poured out into our hearts (Rom. 8:14; 5:5). The love of God in 2 Thessalonians 3:5 is our love toward God that issues from the love of God (1 John 4:19) that has been poured out into our hearts. On the positive side, we need to enjoy the love of God so that we may love Him in order to live for Him. On the negative side, we need to participate in the endurance of Christ so that we may endure the sufferings as He did to stand against Satan, the enemy of God. (Life-study of 2 Thessalonians, p. 37)
Further Reading: Life-study of Hebrews, msg. 50