The race that is set before us. A person begins the greatest race of all once they give their life to the Lord Jesus, and it will last until he takes his last breath. Throughout the race, their faith will be tested in order to obtain the greatest prize — Salvation. The battle is hard and long; it requires patience, resistance, perseverance, enduring to the end, and finishing what they started.

To encourage us all, the Holy Spirit lists “a great cloud” of witnesses for the overcomers who tread the same path and meet their objective during this race (11.1-40). It is also worth mentioning those who proved their faith in the Most High with firmness throughout their entire life. We can add many more to this cloud of examples over the course of the Christian history, who also exerted themselves to overcome difficulties and to remain confident and faithful to the Lord.

During this spiritual race, it is fundamental to remove all types of barriers in our journey of faith. After all, no one can finish “their race” if they are carrying a heavy weight; aside from exhaustion, they run the risk of collapsing. Hence, we are warned to remove all entanglements and sin, since both have devastating effects on our communion with God.

Our spiritual life requires constant progression, without wasting time (Matt. 7.24-25), so that, at the end of human existence, we may obtain the objective — to receive the prize of the Lord Jesus’ approval.

Text taken from the ACF Bible with my comments — Hebrews 12.1