Skip to main content

Throwing Off Everything That Hinders




Therefore, 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)




     Years ago, I had something in my life that was hindering me. I don't recall what it was but at the time it seemed terribly important. What I remember is that I went to God with it in clenched fists. I told Him that I could not let it go, but that if He wanted me to not have it, He was welcome to come pry my fingers from it and take it. I took it to Him daily. On some days, I could almost loosen the grip with one hand. On other days, it was the other hand. Sometimes, it was not at all. Eventually, I found that I could take that thing to Him with open hands.

      The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews challenges us to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. This is much the same idea as releasing. So is repentance. Some people see repentance as feeling bad about some sin and that can certainly be part of it. But the word repentance comes from Latin terms meaning "think again." Repentance is changing your thinking about something, turning away from it and toward God. It may involve weeping. I have also had times of repentance in which I rejoiced, feeling freed from something I might not have even realized was harming me until then. There is another word for releasing to consider: forgiveness. We usually think of forgiveness in terms of freeing the person forgiven from responsibility, accountability, penalties or debts. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn't. The thing forgiveness always does is release the one who forgives.

     Throwing off what hinders and entangles, releasing, repenting, forgiving all free us to run the race set before us.  It's hard to run while dragging a wagon full of people. It's difficult to win a race carrying twice your weight in burdens of guilt. You don't get far chained to the wall or doing the prisoner's shuffle with chains of sin clamped around your ankles.  You can't move forward if your heart stays behind. That was the problem Lot's wife faced. She could not leave Sodom, so she shared in its fate. On the  other  hand, Sarah, Rahab and her daughter-in-law Ruth both turned their backs on the sins of their families, their home towns, their cultures, and their religions and by doing so became part of the lineage of Jesus. [1]  Sarah and Rahab also won a place in the Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11) and Ruth's story is a whole book of the Bible.

     That is how important releasing, throwing off, repenting, and forgiving is. It is the difference between victory and defeat. It is a difference of life and death.


[1] Matthew 1:1-5. Sarah was the wife of Abraham. Ruth's other mother-in-law was Naomi.  "Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse," (Matthew 1:5) Imagine those family dinners and their "Remember when...?s"






[1] Matthew 1:1-5. Sarah was the wife of Abraham. Ruth's other mother-in-law was Naomi.  "Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse," (Matthew 1:5) Imagine those family dinners and their "Remember when...?s"
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more