Looking Unto Jesus
By Pastor Jerry A. Burns
Hebrews 12 compares the Christian life to a race. “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”
No runner carries more than he has to. Some of what we carry is plainly sin, and some of it is simply weight: habits, worries and attachments that are not wrong in themselves but slow us down. Both have to go. I have carried some weights so long that I stopped noticing them, until I tried to run.
But the real secret of the race is not in what we drop. It is in where we look. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” He started our faith, and He finished it. I love that He is called the finisher. I have started many things I did not finish. He never has. And He ran this race before us: “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
When we get tired, the writer tells us what to do. “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” Think about what He endured, and you will find strength to keep going.
Are you weary this morning? Lay aside the weight, and look unto Jesus.
What weight are you running with that you could lay aside? Name it, and ask the Lord to help you set it down today, then fix your eyes on Him.
"Trust in him at all times; ye people, Pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah." — Psalm 62:8
Daily Scripture Reading
Join us as we read through the Bible in one year, growing together in God’s Word day by day. Click on any underlined verse to access Pastor Burns’ helpful study notes and deeper insights.
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This Week's Radio Program
Week Forty-Five • November 8, 2026
What are you Seeking? (Part 2)
In this message, "What are you Seeking? (Part 2)," Pastor Burns explains how many people search for meaning and purpose in all the wrong places. Just as Solomon sought fulfillment in worldly success and great wealth only to find it vanity and vexation of spirit, listeners will learn that true answers cannot be found in dead works, rituals, or philosophies.
Turning to John 20, listeners will hear how Mary Magdalene went to the tomb searching for Jesus and discovered that He had risen. Pastor Burns shares how the reality of Christ’s resurrection provides eternal life, encouraging everyone to choose life, since Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life."
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