Keep On Running, Never Give Up!

By Alexandra Copeland

The ‘YOU’ that you are today is the ‘YOU’ you will always be. Many people are under the assumption they will change into a totally different person in the next phase of their existence, but this isn’t true. At the core, we are who we are, and this will remain true after passing from this life to the next. The element about us that changes is our level of love for God and His people through the Lord Jesus Christ, but the identity of our souls never changes. This in and of itself is an astoundingly generous gift from God. He created us in His image, and because of His brilliant creation and design, no two individuals are alike. Each of us has a specialized and unique purpose. No person that is living or that has ever lived has been a mistake, but in truth has played an integral part in Heavenly Father’s plan.

When you recognize that God has crafted your being on and in purpose, that your life means a great deal to Him, and you’ve been given the privilege and honor to spend eternity with Him; you have a decent starting point from which to cultivate an appreciation for the gift of life you’ve received. God has made it available through Jesus Christ for you to learn how to continually make the most of this overwhelming, generous gift of life. In Romans 5:8 (NLT), Heavenly Father tells us, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” God wanted to make absolutely sure that we gain clear perspective about how to value ourselves. When we were at our worst, He paid the highest price that could be paid, by giving His only begotten Son’s life to die on the cross. And in doing so, God showed His unconditional, limitless love for us all.

God knows your destiny
God tells us through the Apostle John in John 1:12 (NLT), “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”  Our Heavenly Father is a loving parent, the most loving parent there is. Those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord have the right and tremendous privilege to become children of God. A good parent can’t help but to dote on their child, and to nurture them. A good parent wants the best for their children, and they always see the potential of what they can become. Our Heavenly Father is infinitely more loving than our biological parents, and He knows us more intimately than we could ever possibly know ourselves. He has seen our futures and already knows how perfectly matched to Christ we will become.

God is omniscient, omnipotent, and everywhere present. He said in Isaiah 55:9(NLT), “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”  Millions of galaxies are between the heavens and earth. The distance between the two are immeasurable. This gives us an idea of how much the thoughts of our God exceed our thoughts. The span between the two is uncalculatable. He knows the end before the beginning. Ephesians 1:11 says that He chose us to be in Christ, and He predestined us according to His plan; and in His plan, everything works out with the purpose of His Will.

God knows the ‘YOU’ that you really are through His love. He predestined you to be this person, and has already seen the glorified you! Heavenly Father is adamant that we don’t give up on the ‘YOU’ we are becoming. He doesn’t want us to allow sin, self-condemnation, and shame to slow us down, because life is the race He’s given us to run. Earth is good grooming ground for becoming who we are meant to be in Christ. In Hebrews 12:1, God tells us to strip off every weight that slows us down, especially sin, because it trips us up. We are to run with endurance, understanding that the race doesn’t belong to us. It belongs to God. He created both the race and the runner.

You will not be erased
Jesus Christ guaranteed our victory! He ran his race and blazed the trail for all of us to follow. Jesus said in John 3:16(NLT), “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” God saw our end before the beginning. We’ve not been perfect in this life, but we are being perfected in Christ as we run our race. Heavenly Father gave His only begotten Son so that we would not be wiped out. We will not be erased as if we had never even been here on earth. We are forever beings, and Jesus Christ knew that he was fulfilling God’s Will and giving us a chance for completion in him.

God encourages us in Hebrews 12:2 to keep our eyes on the prize at all times, and never get sidetracked by the devil’s shenanigans; we can’t let the games he plays slow down our momentum. We’ve got stuff to do down here. We’re to look to our champion, our Master Jesus! Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. He did what we couldn’t do. He knew who we’d become, and when you understand that you have a purpose and a destiny in him, that you’re not a wandering nomad, but a son or daughter of God, you will then begin to understand how overjoyed Jesus was when he accomplished God’s mission.

Despite the suffering he endured on the cross, he gladly took our place. He looked past the shame and humiliation, because he saw the big picture. Now, he’s seated at the right hand of God’s throne, the place of highest honor! God commands us to let Christ be our motivation. We’re becoming the sons and daughters that God knew we would be, and that’s why we must keep on running, and never give up on this race!  ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.