Hebrews 12 - Batter Up

Sports are an analogy for life in many ways. Play hard and keep your eye on the ball.

Read / Listen to the chapter:

Other resources for this chapter

Read the chapter in an outlined format

Hebrews 12 Summary

Hebrews 12 is a passage designed to strengthen and encourage you in your Christian life, much in the same way the energy of cheering fans can give athletes the added boost they need to win a close game.

Get rid of what's holding you back;
Keep your head up, even as you endure discipline to kill off sin that remains in you;
Strive to know God's grace yourself and be sure everyone around you experiences it as well;
Know that you're being brought into a kingdom that far exceeds what we experience here and now;
Remember who God is, and worship Him accordingly with reverence and awe.

Dig Deeper

Pictures of elite athletes in action often have one thing in common regardless of the sport: their eyes are laser focused on whatever it takes to accomplish the goal, despite whatever else is going on around them.

But you are striving towards a goal that can not be touched or even seen as you press on to the city of the living God (v18 & 22). This means that your eyes must be fixed on something different than the ordinary prizes that the people of this world see. In fact, the things that fascinate worldly people are nothing but weights holding you back.

Live your life like a champion. Throw off everything of this world that's slowing you down. Focus all of your energy on the spiritual race set before you. And just like every other successful athlete, keep your eyes laser focused on the prize despite all of the distractions of life vying for your attention.

v2 - Fix your eyes on Jesus
v3 - consider Jesus (literally: talk about Him over and over, both in your mind and with others)

And remember, you're surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who are on their feet and cheering you on.

AAA Prayer:

ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The living God (v22), the judge of all (v23) who is a consuming fire (v29 / Deut. 4:24).
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Fix your eyes on Jesus (v2) & worship God acceptably with reverence and awe (v28).
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: