Going For A Run

July 22

Read: Hebrews 12:1-2

Going For A Run

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, 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…” (12:1)

Can you imagine running with a weight? I used to run a Crossfit gym with one of my previous seminary students named Brandon. Some of our workouts involved running wearing a weighted vest or carrying a 45lb bumper plate while stepping up on boxes and running from station to station. It was miserable… you would be SO TIRED by the end of the workout. Running this way was difficult… clumsy at times… taxing on your body. Maybe it is not in the gym, but have you ever had to lift up something heavy and walk with it? My grandfather was a farmer and I watched him as he moved through the barn carrying all sorts of heavy things in buckets. You try to run while carrying a hay bail or 2 five gallon buckets filled with hydraulic fluid in your hands! Good luck with that. In short - you can’t run very well or efficiently when you are loaded down with weight.

The Lord calls us to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” The Christian journey is described as a race that we run. These heroes of faith listed out in Hebrews 11 “surround us” like a crowd cheering us on in this race. I know the idea of running a marathon excites some of you… and makes others of you cringe. Nevertheless, this is the image the Lord has given us here… we must “run with endurance”.

Notice here that “sin” is a weight that we carry as well as something that “clings to us” and entangles us. Do you see how the image is that it is something outside of us… something we can “set down”. Sin is something that “clings” to the outside of us… and trips us up while we are running. Inside - we have been transformed by Christ. We are new creations. It is not our nature that the Lord is calling us to set aside!

So this begs the questions: what weights are we carrying and how do we set them down? There are actually two ways that we carry weight as we run the race before us. First off, some people carry weight in that they carry the guilt, shame, and burden of their old self / past life / mistakes that they have made. Christ has “once for all forgiven” us, and yet sometimes we cannot forgive ourselves. (cf. Ps. 103:12, Heb. 9,10) We try to run carrying guilt and shame like a boulder on our back… and it crushes us. Jesus is NOT asking us to hold onto something that he has already taken from us and released / let go of himself! Jesus is calling us to lay aside the weight of our sins and mistakes because he already has. You will never truly run with Christy until you embrace the truth that he has forgiven you and made you a new creation. Go ahead and trust Jesus … take him at his word… lay down that weight… ask the Spirit to tell you who you truly are in him. Read the word of God and believe what it says. You have permission to lay that weight aside.

The second truth is that sin is like a net that tries to entangle us. It is like a jelly fish in the ocean that wants to cling to us and sting us. It is like trying to run with a monkey on your back… or wearing a backpack full of bricks. Jesus in us empowers us to set aside that sort of evil sin. We are no longer “sinners” in Christ. In Christ, we are not designed to run with sin clinging to us… entangling us… dragging us down! Jesus enables us and empowers us to set it down. The scriptures call us to “lay it aside”. It is not US. It is outside of us and it seeks to slow us down… drain us of energy… wear on us as we run. You CAN lay aside the sin which clings to you… it is possible in Christ.

As we look to one another - “so great a cloud of witnesses” - may we see one another embracing the radical forgiveness of Christ as well as setting aside the sin that so easily entangles us. May we find that we are running alongside one another in this amazing race that God has given us. If you are feeling tired, beat down, worn out, and like you cannot run anymore… come to Christ this afternoon and ask him what weight you need to set down. The Spirit will show you what you are carrying. Read Hebrews 11 again and be reminded of the great cloud of witnesses. Trust the once for all forgiveness of Christ. Do not listen to the voice of the enemy which seeks to convince you that you will never be free of that “monkey on your back” Love you guys! - JDP