Read Hebrews 12:1–6
Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let
us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily
entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out
for us.
Hebrews 12:1
Athletes used to wear training weights to help them prepare for
events. None of the athletes would have actually participated wearing
the weights because they would have slowed them down. Too much
weight would have taxed their endurance.
What are the “weights” we should remove so that we might win
the race? Everything that hinders our progress. They might even be
“good things” in the eyes of others. Winning athletes do not choose
between the good and the bad; they choose between the better and
the best.
We should also get rid of “the sin that so easily entangles” (v. 1).
Without naming 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 (3:16–19), and it is unbelief that hinders us from
entering into our spiritual inheritance in Christ. The phrase “by faith”
(or “through faith”) is used twenty-one times in chapter 11, indicating
that it is faith in Christ that enables us to endure.
Something to Ponder
What are some of the “weights” you are carrying—not necessarily
sins—but things that may impede your spiritual growth?