This is a passage of Scripture that has been a powerful motivator for us in the past, and it came up in devotions again. Like so many times before, the Word comes to me in exactly the right word at exactly the right time. I’ve been struggling to get back on track with preparing the book for publication and also with making regular posts to this site. I wait for fresh inspiration and then when it doesn’t come, time slips by. I am continuing to work on the Artist Way program to jump-start the creative flow but it is slow in coming, so I feel like I’m trudging through thick syrup.

This passage comes after a chapter in Hebrews that names a long list of Biblical heroes of the faith, and with that as a backdrop, the passage speaks for itself: “Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”