Athletes used to wear training weights to help them prepare for contests. One modem example is a baseball player who swings a bat that has a heavy metal collar before he steps to the plate.

No athlete would actually participate wearing the weights, however, because they would slow him down. Too much weight would tax one’s endurance.

What are the “weights” (Hebrews 12:1) that we should remove so that we might win the race? All the things that hinder our progress. They might even be “good things” in the eyes of others. A winning athlete does not choose between the good and the bad; he chooses between the better and the best.

We should also get rid of “the sin that so easily entangles (Hebrews 12:1, NIV). While he does not name any specific sin, the writer of Hebrews was probably referring to the sin of unbelief. It was unbelief that kept Israel out of the Promised Land, and it is unbelief that hinders us from entering into our spiritual inheritance in Christ.

The phrase “by faith” (or “through faith”) is used 21 times in Hebrews 11, indicating that it is faith in Christ that enables us to endure.

The Bible commands: “Wherefore … let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

Also read: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Hebrews 11:6; 12:2-3; James 5:11.

Action assignment: What “weights” hinder your progress? Ask God to help you lay them aside today.

WARREN W. WIERSBE
www.backtothebible.in