Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Excess Baggage
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. (Hebrews 12:1 NKJV)
When I travel, I typically take way too much stuff. Suitcases on wheels are great—until you hit carpet or asphalt. So my philosophy is that if I can’t carry it, I shouldn’t take it. The weight slows me down.
This is true in the Christian life as well. If you’re running a race and someone is hanging on to you, is that a productive relationship for winning a race?
When God told Abraham to leave his country and family, Abraham took along his nephew Lot, who was like a spiritual dead weight. It caused conflict with Abraham, and ultimately the two had to part ways.
Like Abraham, sometimes we have relationships that are hurting us in the race of life. So periodically we have to take stock of our relationships and ask ourselves, “Is this a good relationship for me? Is this person speeding me up or slowing me down? Is this relationship building me up, or is it tearing me down?”
We need to run the race with godly people who spur us on, not with ungodly people who slow us down. So look for godly friends. And more important, be a godly friend.
Hebrews 12:1 tells us, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us” (NKJV). There’s a distinction. Sin is sin. But then there is the weight. And what may be a weight for one person is not necessarily a weight for another. You might say, “Look, that Christian is doing thus and so, and they’re okay. Why can’t I do it?” You’re not that person. Maybe it doesn’t affect them in the same way it affects you.
Is there someone or something that is slowing you down? Lay aside the weight and the sin that so easily hinders you.
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