To Encourage You

Hebrews 12:1 “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”

In various places in Scripture the Christian life is compared to a race.  In other places it’s called a “fight.” These words call to mind a contest, one that calls for discipline and great effort.  Paul put it this way: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). 

The picture being painted by these metaphors is that just as in an athletic contest discipline, training, and great effort must be expended, particularly if you want to win that contest, likewise discipline, training, and great effort is involved in living a victorious Christian life.  The reason for this is that there are many obstacles to living a life that glorifies the Savior. The three primary obstacles that the Bible talks about are our flesh, i.e., our natural human desires and lusts; the world, i.e., the systems, mindset,  and people of this world that are opposed to the truth of God; and the devil, the archenemy of God and those that love God.  All three of these obstacles draw their power from their ability to tempt the believer to sin.  In the verse above, we are told of the effects that such sin can then have on us: it weighs us down, and it ensnares us – easily! 

First, the weight aspect.  Sin in our life can create great burdens.  A guilty conscience over some hidden sin is one such weight as it can pummel us with thoughts of hypocrisy that cripple our ability to freely serve the Lord with integrity.  Sin can also bring great complications into our lives, as it is sin that is at the root of so much disfunction in families and other personal relationships, not to mention the weight of personal pain, regret, and even disease.  It’s a weight that grows greater with time, and the only remedy is to “lay it aside” or as some Bible versions put it “cast it off.”  In other words, get rid of it. Take drastic steps, if necessary, to separate our self from it.  In the words of wise Solomon “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy (Proverbs 28:13).” And that mercy is God’s gracious forgiveness that can free us from the weight of sin.

But then we are told that sin can “so easily  ensnare” us.  That’s because it comes naturally.  We sin because it appeals to us. Like an animal that steps into a trap as it is drawn to a bait that is so appealing to it, sin appeals to us, to our natural sinful desires, which the apostle John called, “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16).  Of course, both the world and the devil play on these lusts with encouragements such as “if it feels good, do it.”  It’s the easy, natural, way of the world, but if we follow that course, we are sooner or later ensnared and hindered greatly under a crushing load of sin. 

So what’s the remedy?  Well, in the next verse after the one above we are told to look to Jesus, whose eyes were on the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2) as He victoriously defeated sin when facing a world and a devil that hated Him, and obeyed the Father no matter how things looked or where that obedience led, even if it meant the cross.