Tim Cox’s term as president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention lasted a historic three years due to the coronavirus pandemic, so endurance seemed like a good topic for his final president’s address.
Speaking from Hebrews 12:1–3, Cox, pastor of Liberty Baptist Church in Chelsea, noted the metaphor of a long-distance race is a fitting illustration of the Christian life.
“Distance running requires endurance, and when we run for distance, there will be struggles along the way. … Through the struggles and through the difficulties … there is victory in Jesus.”
When you’re tired or tempted to quit, when you question if the end is worth the struggle, “hang on,” Cox encouraged.
That’s the good news: “We can run with endurance the race that is set before us, from the day of salvation to the day of glorification.”
Right direction
Cox shared the story of Roy Riegels, a University of California, Berkeley, football player whose gaffe in the 1929 Rose Bowl, running more than 60 yards toward the wrong end zone, earned him the nickname “Wrong Way Riegels.”
“Do you think our Heavenly Father ever looks down, shakes His head and says, ‘There go those Baptists again, running in the wrong direction’”?
Cox said he has been encouraged in difficult times, knowing that God started the race and He will finish the race.
“He got it all started. We are in this race because of Him. Had He not paid the price for our sins, we wouldn’t be here in this Christian life. He alone is the capstone — King of kings and Lord of lords.”
Course is mapped
The course is mapped out for each of us, Cox said, whether in full-time vocational ministry, a Christian professional in the workplace or a missionary serving in an unreached area of the world.
Each of us can finish the race “marked out for us” by looking to those who have come before, laying down the sins and distractions that weigh us down, and focusing on Jesus.
“We cannot be preoccupied with self and run the race well,” Cox said. “We cannot be preoccupied with what others are doing or thinking. … Our gaze, our focus must be locked in on Jesus Christ.
“Jesus shows us how to be faithful to the end. Keep looking unto Jesus. Not to me, not to leaders in the state convention, not to Southern Baptist Convention leaders or to the Executive Committee. Not even to leaders in our church. Keep looking to Jesus.
“He’s not through with the mission he called us to be part of, so Alabama Baptists, with endurance, let us run the race that is set before us.”
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