Coming on the heels of the listing of the great heroes of faith Hebrews 12:1 says “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…” not necessarily as spectators watching us from heaven, but more likely the witness of their lives having set for us the example of their overcoming victorious success marking a path for us to follow. Drawing from athletic competition in which runners would remove all unnecessary weights, whether clothing, body mass, Etc. in order to compete successfully as they strive for the prize; the Christian life is compared to that runner, the Scripture saying, “Run in such a way that you may obtain it” (the prize), 1 Corinthians 9:24. And so Hebrews continues “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnare us…” “Every weight, and the sin” could be viewed as one because every sin is a weight; however every weight is not necessarily a sin in itself, but perfectly good and legitimate things like money, possessions, leisure, Etc. can be weights in our race when allowed to hinder our relationship and service to God! Jesus said “If anyone desires to follow Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” Luke 9:23. Then there is the issue of the out and out sin, things like stealing, drunkenness, drug addiction, adultery and other forms of immorality, murder, witchcraft, covenant breaking, and the like, which we are certainly commanded to put off, Ephesians 4:22. But what about those little sins, “The little foxes that spoil the vines” Song of Solomon 2:15; remember “our vines have tender grapes”; the work of the Holy Spirit within us is very sensitive! Those sins that look “little” in comparison, those ill feelings that you have been harboring, those outbursts of anger that you try to tell yourself is justified, being deceitful, cheating, that “little” lie, Etc. are very destructive. Let us lay aside and cast off every hindrance focusing on the prize at the end of the race!
Little foxes
By Rose Hill
Those little things that hinder you,
From doing what God said to do.
They must be put out of sight,
So you are free to do what’s right!
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version copyright …1982 by Thomas Nelson Co. used by permission.