Hebrews 12: 1-3 ^“Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!”

        I have read stories about folks lifting a car or “jumping” into action to do seemingly impossible tasks. That happened to me.  Six days, newly married, my husband and I were removing hurricane shutters from our house.  The hurricane had zipped around the southern tip of Florida and missed us.  We needed to now, de-shutter the house.  As, hubby finished removing the last small shutter and was stacking them against the garage wall to be chained into place, the stack of shutters fell, pinning him to the floor.  I heard the crash, his yell and ran to help.  Adrenaline must have kicked into overdrive, I picked up 435# of shutters so my husband could slide out and away from the extremely sharp shutters. (72 stitches later his cheek was reattached and he is fine).

        I share this story because in this passage from Hebrews, Paul is encouraging the followers of Jesus to not quit or give up but to power through their new faith journey.  We, too, can have this surge of adrenaline as we read and reread the life of our Lord.  His trials and suffering ending with him on the throne of Heaven. As Paul nudged the new believers, so should we continue our studies of faith. Share God’s Holy Word and His unconditional love for us.  Life is not a cake walk but rather a bumpy, twisting road.  With God’s word empowering us, we can find ourselves persevering with an adrenaline rush, pushing toward our salvation. 

Jill