ENDURING FOR HIS GLORY
Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jim's face told the entire story... he looked as though he was in agony... and he was. He was hunting Marco Polo sheep at nearly 18,000 ft in Tajikistan, a country in central Asia. He was within sight of the Chinese border, where guards patrolled to make sure no one got in and no one got out.
There's a price to pay to hunt sheep in that country. The biggest rams are never where the hunting is easy and Jim was paying the price. His legs and his back ached and his lungs burned from the lack of oxygen at that elevation. But in order to attain the prize of those magnificent rams, there was a price to pay.
In the scripture, above, the first word is "Therefore"... Meaning, that there is something before this. The end of Chapter 11 talks about many that were tortured and killed for their faith. These are the witnesses to us " throwing off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles."
Why?... So that we can endure as Christ endured the cross... like Jim on the mountain, there was a price to pay. But the difference is, for Jim on the mountain, it was for his glory. When we strive to (and succeed in) claim victory over sin in this life, the victory is to HIS glory not to our glory. That some day we too will receive our own crown and spend eternity with HIM!
There's victory in Jesus.
I was blessed to write for Jim and Bear Man Ministry and write and help put together the story of OVERCOMING. Click here to watch.
https://youtu.be/QZ-kYNkT4JI?si=ZoTd1nIY2p2IdacN
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