Don’t Lose Heart!

Did you enjoy the 2008 Olympics? We watched a multitude of amazing athletic achievements accomplished before an audience of millions and were reminded of biblical truths.
The metaphor of a marathon is used to inspire and instruct us in 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”
Incidentaly, this particular passage inspired the name of this column “The Winning Side” as well as the the closing phrase always used concerning our focus on the Jesus.
Competitors are encouraged by their coaches and the crowds to perservere and not lose heart—even when it appears they are behind. During one of the Olympic races in Bejiing the 2nd and 3rd place runners were disqualifed for accidenally leaving their lanes , and the 4th and fifth place runners won the medals.
What if they hd looked and saw the others leading and slacked off?
There is a verse in the Bible that speaks on this : Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”
When we choose to believe we can succeed, instead of chosing to believe we may fail, our heart becomes sick. When a person is sick, they don’t perform up to the level they know they can. In our jobs, schooling and the work of the Lord, we must not lose heart! Half the battle is either won or lost over this issue.
How do we maintain heart?
The Bible says, “Keep (or blockade) thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” Proverbs 4:23.
We must give God one hundred percent of all we are. It is full dedication that God blesses.
In this area there can be no compromise: “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with ALL thy HEART, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:” Mark 12:30. We must not give up!
Along the way, sometimes we find our heart faltering, or failing. I am reminded of what the song writer said;
“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it! Seal it for thy courts above.” Although written hundreds of years ago, the sentiment is still the same.
What do we do? The Bible tells us in our text:
Hebrews 12:2-3 “ Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be WEARIED and FAINT in your minds.”

Believer, keep your eye on the prize, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and never lose heart. If you are a Christian, He is waiting for you at life’s finish line!
Think on this, and keep the SON in your eyes!!!