Running, and being watched

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1
One of the analogies Paul often uses to describe the Christian life is that of a running race. You don’t see runners carrying packs or wearing heavy coats. No, they run as light as possible. If we are constantly carrying our past failures and guilt, and falling into sin, we will not run as effectively as if we surrendered all those things to God and left them behind at the start line.
And why should we do this? Because of ch. 11 (which is what the ‘therefore’ is there for). “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect” (Heb. 11:39-40). The Old Testament saints looked forward to Messiah coming to pay the price for the sin of the world. For us, this is an historical fact. When we meet them in heaven, I suspect they will have more questions for us than we will for them. For the time being, they are the ‘great cloud of witnesses’ spoken of here; watching how we live our lives. Christ has set us free from sin and we are no longer compelled to live according to it. The Holy Spirit indwells all believers permanently, not like in the Old Testament when He only indwelt a few, and then only for a season. Let us set an example for each other, but also for those Old Testament believers who are watching.