Doel: Het christenleven is niet altijd makkelijk.

Hebben bergen, hebben

dalen. Maar als we onze ogen op Jezus gericht houden komt het goed

• Everyone is running a face—everyone.

You get born, you live and in the end you die. And what you do in live,
what you achieve is whether you succeed your race.

o This probably isn’t a new idea…you may have heard people say
that life is one giant rat race.
• Let’s think about races for a minute:

Picture a race you’ve seen; with the Olympics so close, you can probably
picture one easily.

o Several people are racing.

o There’s a starting line and a finish line.
o You have to start at the starting line, and you have to cross over
the finish line.
o From the moment the race starts, you’re goal is to cross that line.

• Let’s think about the athletes for a minute:

Focussen als je iets moeilijks doet. Draadje door een naald.

o Not everyone finishes a race—some get disqualified, some get

injured, some get off course, some quit.
o The athletes have probably invested a lot of time in preparation.
 Michael Phelps trained for 8 hours a day, six days a week before
the Beijing Olympics.

Trials, to get the golden award.

And how do they get the award, Focuss
En ook als je even afgeleid bent en daardoor je werk minder goed doet.
Zeggen ze weleens, focus.

Voetbalspelers focussen ook voor de wedstrijd. Ze hebben ogen gericht

op 1 ding. Welk is het doel om daar te gaan scoren.

T is niet zomaar een balletje trappen. EK WK, geen idee wat er is. Maar
Ogen gericht op 1 doel

Als je niet gefocust bent ga je fouten maken. Ik zit te denken voor een
voorbeeld. Maar
In ieder geval

Focussen. Je ziet heel veel filmpjes, die daar ook op letten.

In de sport – T is geen makkelijk spelletje.
Commentaren ook – Verloren onze focus.

In life, trials are inevitable.

We will experience joys and sorrow, ups and downs, challenges, and
victories.
School: Trials and victories

The Bible is loaded with athletic metaphor.

• Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9 that he disciplines his body like an

athlete.
• He says in Philippians 3 that he strains forward toward a goal to
receive a prize.
• And he says in my favorite verse, Acts 20:24—I consider my life
worth nothing to me if only I may finish my race and the complete the
task the Lord Jesus has given me, the task of testifying to

Hebrews 12:1-3

But we can have victory, no matter how many trials we face, if we fix our
eyes on Jesus.
After the heroes of faith. It says, life is like a race.

Because Jesus is our example.

When we look to him, we remember what he accomplished for us:
everlasting life with him and no condemnation for our sins.
Every affliction that we endure is bearable in light of the cross.
Now, let’s get a little deeper into today’s scripture.

Take a look at what these verses ask the believer to do: lay aside our
love of the world and our sin and run with endurance.
It may be tempting for us to give up right from the start, knowing that
we’ll never be able to truly lay aside everysin.

But, instead, take a look at part two of the statement.

We are to “run with endurance.”
That means God knows we’ll struggle with part one.
You can’t “endure”… if it’s easy.
You can’t “endure”… if it’s quick.
You can’t “endure”… if it’s perfect.
You can’t “endure”… if there’s no battle.
If the Bible asks us to “run with endurance,” then we must expect it to be
hard.

So, what do you do when you feel like there’s nothing to keep you going?

Well, scripture gives us some simple advice.

We fix our eyes on Jesus.

When we look to his example – obedience to God, sacrifice for others,
suffering for doing God’s will – we can find strength.
Not because we’ll ever have the strength of Jesus, but because he has
put his Spirit inside of us for this purpose.

Everything we do should be out of obedience to and the guidance of the

Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit acts as a shield for life’s struggles and pain – not so that
we won’t have to experience them, but so that we can see them for what
they are: an obstacle that will grow us and mold us more into the image
of Christ.

Life as a Christian doesn’t mean that the Holy Spirit takes away your
pain and heartache.
Instead, the Holy Spirit helps you overcome.

God wants you to cross the finish line His way.

Fix your eyes on Jesus, and you’ll cross the finish line into eternal life
with God.
That doesn’t mean that live will go easy.

PAUL ACTIVITY

2 Timotheus 4:7-8
Paulus, die we net gezien hebben. Had ook de wedloop. Zijn leven ging niet altijd over rozen.
En fouten maken is niet erg. Je moet het niet doen. Maar als het gebeurt, weet dat er
vergeving is.
Derhalve heeft hij de strijd overwonnen.
Hij krijgt nu de belonging

Proverbs 4:25-27 “Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level
paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your
foot from evil.”
Niet naar links of naar rechts afwijken

Below is an activity to help you pray about keeping focused on Jesus, including praying
about the things that distract you.
Grab a piece of paper, a pencil (or coloured pencils) and a felt tip or marker pen.
On the paper, using the pencil or coloured pencils, draw some waves. They don’t have to be
particularly good, don’t worry!
Draw a wave for each thing you can think of that pulls your focus off Jesus and distracts you.
These could be things that you find overwhelming; people, school, the current Coronavirus
situation, sometimes even fun stuff, worries or fears etc.
Take a moment to pray that Jesus would help you with these things and not let them distract
you.
Does this mean that they will go away? No. But you can ask the holy spirit to help you to
keep focused on Jesus.
What makes the race of life possible, according to the
scripture we just read?