Check out my children's book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FP9NZNK The writer of Hebrews combines the two themes of athletics and citizenship in this important twelfth chapter. The atmosphere is that of the footraces in the arena. We can see the runners laying aside their training weights and striving to run their races successfully. Some get weary and faint, while others endure to the end and win the prize. First, the writer pictures the race (Heb. 12:1–13) and then emphasizes citizenship in the heavenly city (Heb. 12:14–29). In the minds of the readers, these two themes would go together because no one could take part in the official games unless he was a citizen of the nation. Verse 4 puts the struggles of the readers of Hebrews in perspective. Although they had experienced intense hardship, they had not yet faced resistance to the “point of shedding blood.” None of them had suffered martyrdom. Their sufferings had by no means reached the severity of those that Jesus endured. Verse 4 implies that they had not truly shown serious commitment in their resistance to the sin of apostasy. Others had remained faithful to Jesus in the face of far worse sufferings than theirs. In verses 9-11, the author draws on the analogy of the discipline of earthly fathers and encouraged a submissive spirit to the discipline of the Father of our spirits which is life-preserving as well as productive of an experience of His holiness, which involves a rich harvest of righteousness and peace. But Christians must let this discipline have its full effect and be trained by it.