For many, the Christian life is thought to be one impactful religious experience after another, leading to the pursuit of the next spiritual high and disdain for the in-between. That is not the Way of Jesus. The life of a disciple is not meant to be lived like a tourist who is jumping from one adventure to the next, but instead like a pilgrim who is journeying towards a wondrous destination. The pilgrimage we travel will lead to the joys of heaven, but the beauty isn’t simply found in where we are going, but in the One who is with us on the journey.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.