The writer has in mind the ancient amphitheater where games of various kinds were held. Thousands are watching the attempts of the eager athletes to win the laurel crown. He is alluding to the Roman and Graecian games. The Apostles were sports enthusiasts. The writer is referring to a 50-yard dash, but a marathon..

The witnesses are former participants who are present at the games.

The writer reminds the Christian runner that he, too, is surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses viewing our efforts and endeavors.

The previous chapter (Hebrews 11) answers that question. They are the "star athletes" — Abel, Enoch, Moah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephtha, David, Samuel, the prophets — and hundreds more who won the prize.

We don't regard this in the sense that these witnesses are literally watching every movement and action every moment of every day. The point seems to be that these spectators are athletes who have already run the race and won the prize. In spite of obstacles and opposition, in spite of trials and testings, they finished the race triumphantly. They are all champions, and we are to keep their testimonies in mind.

The Amplified Bible renders the verse this way: "Those who have borne testimony to the truth."

Just as in the amphitheater the runners are cheered on by the shouts of their friends, so we are spurred on as we keep in mind the testimony and triumph of the men of faith of the O.T.

Look up and see them cheering us on.

Daniel: "Don't be afraid of lions."
Noah: "Don't be afraid of the floods."
Gideon: "Don't be afraid of overwhelming odds."
Abraham: "Don't be afraid of impossibilities."
Moses: "Don't be afraid of the Red Seas."
Joshua: "Don't be afraid of walls."

They are saying in essence, "You are on the right track. Press on. It's worth the agony."

There is great value in reading the biographies of men and women of God throughout the centuries. We receive inspiration and incentive from the way in which they have won the prize. We, too, are leaving an example by our lives. May those who follow us find us faithful.

The second rule for the Christian athlete running the heavenly race is to keep his body free from all that hinders.

Amplified: "Let us strip off and throw aside every incumberance and the sin which so readily and cleverly clings to and entangles us."

The writer distinguishes between a weight and a sin. There may be things, legitimate and lawful in themselves, which may hinder or hamper the runner. At other times these things would be proper, but in a race they act like weights, slowing down the runner. For example, an overcoat is a necessity on a cold day, but in a race an overcoat is a hindrance and nuisance. It must be case aside if the runner would win the prize.

The writer has a particular weight in mind. The synagogue with its ritual and the temple with its priesthood still held appeal to those were brought up in it. It kept Jewish converts from full freedom of the gospel. They were hindered in their spiritual progress. As long as they played with the now-abolished order they were in danger of being drawn back under any persecution. It was a weight. It made Christians hesitant.

On the other hand there are things which are clearly sinful in the light of God's Word, things such as sinful ambitions, associations, appetites. These are the sing which easily beset us. We must not be a victim of these if we would run and win.

A "besetting sin" was not necessarily a sin habitually committed, but a sin which stood around within easy striking distance as long as they failed to cast it aside.

Perhaps today there is something in this world upon which you have set your heart and it has become a weight.

If you are holding on to something in your business life, social life, or family life, which puts a drag on your feet beware. The offspring of that weight is sin which is closer than you think — a sin which can shame you and blight your testimony, trip you up and even harm your family. There is no telling what depth it will plunge you into if you do not cast it aside.

A little girl was once memorizing this verse and she innocently rendered it, "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily upset us." Sin indeed not only besets us, surrounds us on every hand, but it also upset us, knocks us down, trips us up.

"Let us run with patience."

The thought here is that of the Christian runner in the heavenly race. He must not stop to rest. He must not stop to become involved in anything that would cause him to lose the crown. He must not allow himself to become distracted or diverted from the course. In short, he must keep on running right to the end. In other words "don't give up."

Princess Atalanta was a very proud and vain young woman. She had announced that she did not intend to marry. But Atalanta was very swift of foot and her boasted that no man could compete against her in a foot race. In face, she promised her hand in marriage and her kingdom to any young man who could run faster than she could.

Many young men tried for the hand and the crown but none was successful. Finally, one day, a young man turned up at the palace and volunteered to run in a race against the princess. A day was set and the race was announced.

Amid the cheers of hundreds of spectators the princess and the young man began to race. It was at once very evident that the young man was no match for the princess, and soon she was passing him. Just as she overtook the young man, he threw in her pathway a beautiful, shining golden apple. The princess could not resist. She stopped, then stooped to pick up the golden apple.

Meanwhile like a shot the young man was off, leaving the princess behind. But she was not to be outdone, and soon she gained on the young man and was again passing him. The young man was ready, and a second golden apple fell in front of the princess. The golden ball was too much for Atalanta, and she slowed down sufficiently to grasp the trinket.

Again the young man was ahead and running like a hare. But swiftly the princess caught up once more and began to pass him by. In a flash a third golden apple came from the young man's hand, rolling in front of the princess. Would she pause a third time? The golden apple was irresistible. She stopped. And in the few seconds that it took to pick up the golden apple, she lost the contest. With one last mighty effort the young man won the race. The princess lost both her hand and her crown to the young runner.

Likewise Satan is cunning, and he knows exactly how to tempt each Christian runner. The Bible says he goes about "like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." He has his variety of golden apples which he flings before us in an attempt to get us to pause and thus to lose the race.

Satan cast three golden apples at the feet of the Lord Jesus. But the Savior resisted the temptations and won the crown. Those golden apples were beautiful to look at, but each one of them had a worm at the center.

It's so easy to get slowed down in the heavenly race by tempting to pick up some golden apple Satan casts at our feet. Perhaps it is the apple of material prosperity, the apple of position, or the apple of pleasure. Remember that all of Satan's apples have worms. No matter how promising and how appealing they may look, they are rotten at the core.

Keep your legs on the move. Don't slow down. Don't stop. Keep running.

4. KEEP YOUR FEET ON THE TRACK.

The word "race" comes from the Greek word "agon" from which we get agony. It was a word used for the gathering of a contest as well as for the test itself.

It implies struggle, anguish and total effort.

There is a divinely appointed course for each believer. The Apostle Paul speaks of it as "good works. . . prepared by God. . . for us to walk in" (Ephesians 2:10).

In the ancient races a certain course was mapped out, and each runner was responsible to run the entire distance. This course was clearly marked by posts or pillars, and the runners were responsible to run around the posts. No runner was permitted to take a short cut. If any attempted to do so, he would be disqualified immediately, and he would lose the crown.

The course of the Christian life is also clearly marked out, and if we would win the prize we must run the entire course.

Paul warns us in 2 Timothy 2:5 that an athlete competing in the games "is not crowned, except he strive lawfully", that is, in line with the rules of the game.

PILLAR OF BIBLE READING. No Christian can afford to bypass a study of the Word of God.

PILLAR OF PRAYER. This involves discipline and devotion.

PILLAR OF WORSHIP AND CHURCH ATTENDANCE. "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together."

On the prairies of Saskatchewan in Western Canada we had on our farm a dog named Arctic. Several times a week it was necessary for us to drive three miles to a little town to buy groceries. As we drove along the dirt roads, Arctic would run behind, or alongside, our wagon. But he would never stay on the road. He had to run after every rabbit he saw. He had to stick his nose behind every gate. He had to jump over every fence. At every farm he had to chase every cat and every hen eh saw. If a dog barked at him, he had to bark back 10 times. And then the dog finally arrived back from town in the evening. He was tired out, not by keeping his feet in the track, but by running all over the place.

God has clearly marked out a path for us. Let us keep our feet in that pathway and not run here and there in other pursuits, wearing ourselves out.

5. KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE GOAL.

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith." The Christian runner must keep his eye on the goal.

Blondin was a tightrope walker who amused and amazed thousands of people as he made his way over Niagara Falls on a slender rope stretched from shore to shore. He never faltered or failed. But Blondin had a secret. As he made his way over the rope, he would keep his eyes fixed on a large silver star which he had erected at the far end. The star was the center of his attention and guide him tot he other side.

The Christian runner must look to his Star, the bright and morning Star, the Lord Jesus, "who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross." He has run the race before us and now bids us to run the course, keeping our eyes fixed on Himself as the goal.

"Looking unto Jesus." — Having eyes for no one but Jesus.

At Sunday School picnics they often have toddler races. Usually the mothers and fathers of the little ones to the far end of the field, and when the children begin to run (and wander off course at times) the parents shout out their names, attracting their children to them.

So the Lord Jesus calls to us, lovingly, patiently, urgently, and authoritatively. It is for us to respond and to run the race so that we may obtain the prize.

Looking unto Jesus supplies the believer with an adequate motive in running the race.

Are we running to please Him?

A fable has it that a certain dog used to boast frequently of his ability to outrun anything on four legs. One day the dog was chasing a rabbit, but was unable to catch up with it. His friends chided him for his failure. "But," exclaimed the dog, "the rabbit was running for its life. I was only running for my dinner."

Are we in the race to win the crown? Are we giving everything we've got as if our very lives depended on it.

Don't look at other runners (many have fallen), and don't look behind.

After retaining his heavyweight crown by knocking out challenger Joe Walcott, Joe Louis was take to see movies of the fight. Asked how he liked the picture, Louis commented laconically, "It had a real nice ending."

Paul testifies in 2 Timothy 4:7,8, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course. I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing."