Hebrews 12:1b ...let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Now it's time to dig a bit deeper and start to weed. So far, we have heard the devotion of true worship; it's how we live our lives for the Lord. We then studied what our priorities should be focused on, seeking God in His kingdom, and yesterday I asked you, how much do you love Him? Today I want to ask you how much stuff are you willing to deal with? The unknown author of Hebrews says (starting at the b part of verse 1) "let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely," Hebrews 12:1b

Notice this author doesn't tell us to ask God to take the weight away from us; notice he doesn't say if we keep believing the weight issues will be over. No, he says "let us," which means he is looking for us to do it, which also means we can do it! This verse is structured as a metaphor towards athletes; this verse has descriptive thoughts. It speaks clearly about stamina and commitment. It's a spiritual trim to run our race with endurance. God has given us all the ability to start the "spiritual trim process," to be honest; that's what we are on right now in this fast.

Let's lay aside every weight and sin. Can you see the distinction the author is making between the two? He says weight and then sin, which means that the weight may not be sin. So what are the weights? It's used and defined as bulk and mass, too much of something. Can I ask you a question? What are you giving too much time to? It's not sinning, but you are spending your time with it, time that you could be spending worshiping Him with how you live, loving on people more, spending time praying, studying his word, helping the saints out, witnessing, instead of watching television, being on the phone, Facebook, TikTok, and all of the rest of our distracting social media platforms.

Here is the thing: the author is trying to get us to see something; we want to run our race for the Lord and keep our focus on the target, which is Jesus. We can't do it if we are weighted! Maybe we are doing too much of something?

Challenge
How do you spend your days? Write it down, how much time do you spend watching tv, what do you spend the most time doing? How can you spend this time better for the Lord?