Drivetime Devotions September 14, 2026

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Each week you'll find biblical teaching, practical encouragement, and conversations designed to help you follow Jesus in everyday life.

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Welcome to Drivetime Devotionals, a look at scripture to help you get your school or work week started with your focus in the right place.

I'm Katrina, the Director of Communications at Celebration.

I recently, at the age of 49, decided to start running.

And one day, while I was out running in this horrible heat and humidity of Tallahassee in September, I remembered there was a Bible verse that said something about running with endurance.

At that particular moment, I had a couple of miles to cover before I could get back home.

And endurance, well, it sounded pretty relevant right then.

So once I got home and after I'd taken a much-needed shower, I sat down and Googled Bible verses about running.

And that's when I was reminded that running is actually a pretty common metaphor in the Bible for the Christian life.

Luckily for you, you don't have to be crazy enough to actually start running to learn from these verses.

Because whether you put on a pair of running shoes or not, Scripture tells us that all of us who follow Jesus have a race to run.

Let's start in Hebrews 12, verses 1 and 2.

Hebrews 12:1

Let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us.

Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

There are three instructions here that I think can help us as we head into this week.

First, lay aside every hindrance and sin.

If you're going for a run, you probably don't load yourself down with a bunch of things you don't need.

You're not going to put weights in your pockets or carry a heavy backpack just in case you need it.

You get rid of unnecessary weight because every extra pound makes the run even harder.

The writer of Hebrews here tells us that there are things in our spiritual lives that can weigh us down too.

And I find it interesting that he mentions both hindrances and sin, because not everything that hinders us is necessarily sinful.

I mean, there are obvious sins that can entangle us and keep us from following Jesus faithfully, but there are also perfectly ordinary things that simply take up too much of our attention, energy, or time.

Maybe you have an overpacked schedule, or maybe it's your phone.

You might be constantly worrying about what other people think of you, or sometimes it's a commitment that was good for one season of your life, but isn't where God wants you investing your time and energy now.

Or maybe there really is a sin that you've allowed to become comfortable, something you know you need to deal with, but you keep putting off.

So here's the first question I have for you this week.

What are you carrying that is making your race harder than it needs to be?

We wouldn't intentionally run a race with weights tied around our ankles, but sometimes we become so accustomed to the spiritual weights that we forget we're carrying them.

Ask God to show you what you need to lay aside.

Second, the writer of Hebrews tells us to run with endurance.

Now that's the part that originally caught my attention because one thing I'm learning about running is that endurance doesn't appear overnight.

You have to build it.

Every time I go out for a run, I push myself a little bit further or a little bit faster.

Then I take some time to recover and I go back out and I do it again.

Eventually, something that once felt impossible starts to feel manageable.

Our spiritual endurance develops in much the same way.

Romans 5, 3 through 4 says, we even boast in our afflictions because we know that affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.

We'd prefer God to just give us endurance without the difficult parts that produce it.

But Scripture repeatedly tells us that perseverance is formed by, well, persevering.

James 1, 2 through 4 says something similar.

Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

The difficult season you're walking through may not feel productive.

You may feel like you're barely moving forward, but endurance doesn't look impressive.

Sometimes endurance is simply taking that next step.

It's praying when you don't feel particularly spiritual.

It's opening your Bible when you're tired.

It's continuing to serve when nobody seems to notice.

Choosing obedience when obedience isn't convenient, trusting God today and then waking up tomorrow and choosing to trust him again.

You don't have to sprint your entire race.

You just have to keep running.

And that brings us to the third instruction that the author of the book of Hebrews gives us.

Keep your eyes on Jesus.

I have a really bad habit when I'm running.

I tend to look down at my feet.

I'm afraid I'm gonna trip over a crack in the sidewalk or something else in my path, so I concentrate on what's directly in front of me.

Unfortunately, I've learned the hard way that constantly looking down creates other issues, like getting whacked in the head by a low-hanging branch or stabbed in the arm by a palm planted a little too close to the sidewalk.

Yes, both of those have actually happened to me.

Apparently, it helps to occasionally look at where you're actually trying to go.

And I think we can do the same thing spiritually.

We can become so focused on what's immediately in front of us, the deadline, the problem, the health issue, the difficult conversation we don't want to have, whatever's got us worried and tied up in knots.

We focus so much on those things that we stop looking to where we're actually going.

Hebrews reminds us not to just run, it tells us to look where we're running.

We're to look at Jesus.

And Jesus isn't standing at that finish line asking us to do something he was unwilling to do himself.

The rest of Hebrews 12, too, says, For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

But Jesus endured because he knew what was on the other side.

And when we're tired, discouraged, distracted, or tempted to quit, Scripture tells us to look to him.

Paul uses the same running metaphor in 1 Corinthians 9, 24 through 25.

Don't you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize.

Run in such a way to win the prize.

Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything.

They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown.

Paul isn't telling us that we're competing against other Christians for one available prize.

He's telling us to look at the seriousness with which an athlete approaches a race.

An athlete doesn't train by accident.

They make choices based on the goal that they have set.

They give up some things because they want something else even more.

And Paul says our faith deserves at least that kind of intentionality.

So here's another question worth asking yourself this week.

Does the way I'm living show that following Jesus is actually my goal?

Not just on Sunday.

What about the way I spend my free time, the things I give my attention to, the way I respond when I'm angry, and the way I treat people around me?

Paul says in verse 26, so I do not run like one who runs aimlessly.

There's a destination, there's a purpose, and there is an eternal prize worth pursuing.

So as you begin this week, remember these three instructions from Hebrews.

First, lay aside what is weighing you down.

Ask God if there's a sin, distraction, habit, or even a good thing that has become a hindrance to the race He's given you.

Number two, run with endurance.

Don't confuse slow progress with failure.

You don't have to solve everything this week.

Keep taking the next faithful step.

And most importantly, our third point, keep your eyes on Jesus.

Don't spend the entire race staring at whatever you're afraid might trip you up.

Look toward where you're going.

Look toward the one who has already run the race before you.

The Christian life isn't a sprint.

There are going to be hard stretches in this race.

There will be times when you feel strong and times when simply taking the next little step feels like an accomplishment.

But the goal isn't to run somebody else's race faster than they do.

It's to faithfully run the race that lies before us.

So whatever your race looks like this week, lay aside the extra weight, keep moving forward, and keep your eyes focused on Jesus.

And if you happen to literally be running outside in Tallahassee in September, stay hydrated.

Take some water with you.

Thanks for joining us on the Celebration Baptist Church podcast.

We hope today's conversation helps you take another step in your faith journey.

For more resources, upcoming events, and to join us live, visit iCelebration.org.

Until next time, keep connecting with God, connecting with others, and living on mission.