Devotionals | Bentonia Baptist Connect

I know that many of you in our congregation at Bentonia Baptist Church are tired. Many of you are exhausted as you are reading this. Some of you have spent nights in the hospital this week, others are recovering from surgery, and still others are exhausted from taking care of kids, and going to work everyday. It is normal to at times be exhausted from the struggles and engagements we have in daily life. However, we must ever allow physical and mental exhaustion to cause us to falter in our walk with God. In this passage in Hebrews the author is building upon his race illustration that he presented in 12:1-2. In verses 3-11 we were reminded of Jesus and how he endured hostility all the way to death. We are also reminded in these verses about the discipline of God. If God disciplines its because He loves us and we are His children. Now in V.12-13, like a coach encouraging his runner to keep going, the author under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit begins to encourage us to keep going even when we are tired.

The picture given here is a runner who is totally exhausted. He has been running so long, faced so many uphill runs that his arms which at the beginning of the race were pumping are now hanging limp at his sides. His legs which appeared to have been in good shape are now fatigued and his knees are wobbly due to the lack of strength in his quadriceps. He is so dehydrated and mentally exhausted from this race that he cannot even walk in a straight line. Here is a runner that is beat. A runner that is ready to give up. Life has a way of getting all of us to this point is some form or fashion. Maybe you like the Jewish Christians to whom this letter was originally addressed are dealing with persecution. Maybe you are spiritually exhausted due to work, and taking care of the family. Maybe you are ready to give up due to the temptation and sin you have been struggling with for years. Maybe you are just tired of trying to live for Jesus. Whatever is leading to your spiritual exhaustion my exhortation to you is the same as the author of Hebrews! He commands us to ‘strengthen’ our hands that hang down, the knees that are wobbling, and he commands us to make straight our paths! How can we strengthen when we are so exhausted? We strengthen ourselves by looking back at all those who ran the race of life well in Hebrews 11. We look back at Noah, Abraham, Sarah, David, Gideon, and host of others who completed the race! WE look back at them to find encouragement and motivation! But above all, we look to Jesus. We look to our Lord and Savior who ran His race the best. He is the winner! And He did it all for us! We look to Jesus and we find the greatest encouragement, the greatest motivation, and the greatest friend. When we look to Jesus, He has always has the right thing to say to us to get us to keep going. Friends, God needs us to finish our race. We are to live for Him by sharing the gospel, living Holy, and being a light until we take our final breath. If you are still breathing today then you have today to live for Him! Strengthen yourself by looking to Jesus!!

A Message to the Exhausted Christian - Hebrews 12:12-13

A Message to the Exhausted Christian - Hebrews 12:12-13