Thursday, December 11, 2014

12th Day of Advent: Jesus the Pioneer


"And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.  For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Hebrews 12:1b-2

Usually this verse is quoted for the first part about perseverance, however I want to look at the second part and the reason why the first part is so powerful.  Jesus is our Pioneer.  Since He is eternal, He has no beginning or end so He's always gone ahead of us! It's even cooler to think about Him as the Pioneer of our faith today as we know.  Of course He is the reason for our faith.

When Jesus was here on Earth, He experienced everything a human can experience: temptation, disappointment, happiness, hard-work, struggles, family disputes, all emotions, hunger, and many more.  Jesus was fully human but also sinless.  Therefore, when He approached life, He always went to His Father first.  He prayed and knew His Father's Word.  That is a great example for our lives.  

We can read His life in the Bible.  We can see how He pioneered His way through life setting an ultimate example for how we are to live.  In some Bible Translations, instead of pioneer it has source, author, leader or founder.  I think these are all great words to describe how Jesus is the example for us to live.  In this context, the author of Hebrews is encouraging the people to remain faithful and endure through the hardships.  Since Jesus was able to persevere through the pain and shame of the cross, we can also persevere through life.  We also have Jesus there to help us!! 

So does this change your aspect of Jesus?  Have you seen Him before as the Great Pioneer?  Is He the Source of your faith?  Are you looking to Jesus as the example for your life?

With His Love,
A

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