Keeping the Fire Burning (Part 4): Run with Perseverance

One of my favorite business world stories is about scientist Spencer Silver, who, while trying to invent a super-strong adhesive, unexpectedly created a weak one that barely stuck to anything.

Silver kept pitching the usefulness of his adhesive for years, but no one was interested. “It’s not strong enough,” they’d say. Year after year, Silver was rejected, but he never gave up on his idea. Then, according to one version of the story, a colleague used the adhesive to keep bookmarks from falling out of his hymnal at church. Finally, after years of perseverance, encouraged by the idea of the bookmark, Silver saw his invention become one of the most used office supplies in history – the Post-it Note.

Spencer Silver never gave up despite constant indifference and opposition. That’s perseverance.

We’re concluding our look at how to grow in our relationship with God, how to stay on fire for him, and in Hebrews 12:1-2, the writer teaches us how to do that. Here’s the passage:

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. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

These verses center on the call to “let us run.” We each have a race to run. The Christian life is not a lazy stroll along the beach, but a run that requires discipline and effort. The writer then explains how to run successfully: follow faithful examples, rid ourselves of anything that weighs us down, and fix our eyes on Jesus. The final step: “run with perseverance.”

The Greek word used for perseverance here is also translated “endurance” in the ESV, CSB, and NKJV. It’s the same word used in Romans 5:3-5 and James 1:2-4 (where the ESV switches to “steadfastness”). The word implies active effort and struggle, not just patience. The writer of Hebrews is making a point – if we want to run our race of faith well, we’re going to need perseverance, endurance, and steadfastness. We need to keep running despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. We keep moving in our walk with God even when it seems we’re not making progress, even when we face obstacles. We keep our eyes on Jesus and keep running no matter what.

If we need an example, if we need someone we can look to who ran his race with perseverance, we have Jesus. He endured the agony and shame of the cross on our behalf. If he can do that, we can endure as well. More than that, we have him with us, strengthening us and encouraging us as we run our race. We’re never running alone.

So keep running, and keep looking at the finish line. No matter how difficult your race, keep running toward the goal of being like Christ. There’s glory at the finish line. One day, we’ll be with Christ, and all our weaknesses and difficulties will be gone. Until then, run with the glory of heaven in your eye. Run like Paul did, who said, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

Do you know how to keep a fire in a fireplace burning? You keep putting logs on it. We had a “real” fireplace for years, and learned that lesson well. Then we moved to a house with a gas fireplace. All we had to do was turn a switch on and off to have a fire.

Some Christians are like that in their life’s run. We want instant fire, with no work involved. No buying wood, no chopping wood, no adding logs to the fire. Just flip a switch. We think we can stay on fire for God by going to church, listening to Christian music, getting quick emotional lifts, then waiting for the next one. We think the Christian life is just a series of emotional highs.

That is not how to run the race of life successfully. Instead, we must keep our eyes on Jesus regardless of what we’re facing or what’s going on around us. That requires discipline. And there are two disciplines we need in our lives to keep our eyes on Jesus and allow us to run with endurance.

The first is building a regular habit of Bible reading. Try setting aside a specific time each day, whether it’s in the morning with your coffee or at night before bed. Have a Bible-reading plan in place or use a devotional to stay on track. Ask God to open your eyes to let you see what’s on the page. Ask him to speak to you and to open your ears so you hear what he’s saying. We can’t run well if we’re not in God’s Word.

Secondly, develop the habit of prayer. We need to saturate our lives with prayer. You can pray throughout the day, short, spontaneous prayers as things come to mind or as you face different situations. But also set aside time to get alone with God and talk to him. You may even want to keep a prayer journal to jot down your prayers and track the answers God gives. You can’t run your race well without the discipline of prayer.

God doesn’t call us to simply drift through life. Nor does he call us to a life that moves from one emotional high to the next. He calls us to run a race with effort, perseverance, and constant forward motion. Simple habits like prayer and time in God’s Word may not always feel dramatic, but they keep the embers glowing even in a spiritual blizzard. If your fire is strong today, keep feeding it. If it’s grown cold, don’t lose heart. The One who called you to run is faithful, and He will help you finish the race well.

Hebrews 12:1-2 encourages us to run, and in order to run well, we should follow faithful examples, rid ourselves of anything that slows us down, fix our eyes on Jesus, and run with perseverance.

As you run, remember the One who is both waiting for you at the finish line and running beside you, cheering you on and giving you all his strength – Jesus. He’s there to keep you moving, keep you growing, and keep you on fire for him.

So run your race. Ready. Set. Go!