4/16/25 Hebrews 12:1-2 “Laying Aside”
All of us fail. Even the heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11 messed up. The good news is that if we confess our sins, God forgives and cleanses us (1 John 1:9). But the author of Hebrew goes a little further. In Hebrews 12:1, he tells us to lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us. The picture is that of running a race. How can we run well?
Every weight has to do with things that might not be wrong in themselves but they slow us down when we try to live for God and serve Him. I doubt that any of us would choose to run a race holding a bowling ball, but at times we allow something to weigh us down and keep us from running well in life. For example, television is not bad in itself but it certainly can hinder us from focusing on what God wants us to.
The sin which so easily ensnares us is something that is wrong and we might not even want to do it, but in that area we tend to give in to temptation time after time. God wants us to lay these weights and sins aside, to say no to them, so that we can please God. We should confess, acknowledge we are wrong. And we should repent, change our minds and determine not to sin any more with God’s help. We all fail, but God wants us to lay aside every weight and sin that ensnares us.
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