Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV
“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, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
A weight is a hindrance or an interference or an obstruction.
It is something that is either halting something from happening or it is making
it more difficult to be accomplished. It is anything that stands in the way of
us obeying our Lord Jesus wholeheartedly. And it can come in the form of
distractions or interruptions or from just poor time management. Or it can be
those things which we might allow in our lives which have the potential to pull
us away from our pure devotion to our Lord Jesus.
Now we are to lay aside these weights, which again are
anything which might be pulling us away from obeying our Lord Jesus in every
way. Some examples might be too much time spent on social media or on watching television
or movies or playing games. If we are not careful and diligent about our walks
of faith in the Lord Jesus we can get pulled many different directions which
eat up our time and which have the potential to consume our minds and our
hearts which are to be consumed with Christ, instead.
So, we need to be very dedicated to making Jesus Christ
first in our lives in all things and in all ways, and to listening to his
voice, and to following him wherever he leads us. We can’t get lazy or nonchalant
about our walks of faith in the Lord. Jesus died on that cross that we would
die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. And he shed his
blood for us to buy us back for God so we will now be God’s possession, and so
we will now honor the Lord with our lives. So our lives don’t belong to us
anymore.
But we are also to lay aside any sin which might be clinging
to us closely. We are to get rid of all sin in our lives. For Jesus Christ died
on that cross to free us from our slavery to sin so that we would now be slaves
of God and of his righteousness. Sin is no longer to have mastery over our
lives. We are not supposed to have any sins clinging to us closely. For we are
not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions. For if
sin is what we obey, and not obedience, it will end in death, not life (Romans
6:1-23).
So, all hindrances to full obedience to our Lord have to go,
and all sin has to go, too. We do not have permission from our Lord to hold on
to any sin. For he said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self
and take up his cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey)
him. For, if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self we will
lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of the name of Jesus we die with
him to sin that we might live to his righteousness, then we have eternal life
with God (see Luke 9:23-26).
And he said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,”
will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the
Father who is in heaven. For many are going to stand before Jesus in that day
claiming all that they did in the name of Jesus and he is going to say to them,
“I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness.” And this is
because they did not obey the Lord but they thought they could determine their
own path, instead, mistakenly thinking Jesus would still let them into his
heaven (see Matthew 7:21-23).
So, throw off all hindrances to your walks of faith and all
sins in your life, and then you can run with perseverance the race that our
Lord has marked out for us to run. But we can’t run this race in our own
strength and willpower nor under our own direction. We can’t make up in our own
minds what the Christian life is supposed to look like. We must follow the
teachings of Christ and of his New Testament apostles who taught us what is
required of us by the Lord. Sin must no longer be our practice, but now
righteousness and walks of obedience to our Lord must be our practice.
So, we look to Jesus to lead us and to guide us in the way
that we should go. We can’t do this without him. We need his help every day in
order to keep on obeying him. And he set the example for us to follow in godly
living.
Now I know Jesus was without sin, which none of us are, but
by the grace of God, and in his strength, we can all say “No!” to ungodliness
and fleshly passions, and we can live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives
while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ gave himself for us to
redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own
possession who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:11-14).
Jesus,
Rescue Me
An
Original Work / September 18, 2011
Based
off of Romans 7:7-8:39
Jesus, rescue me today.
Listen while I bow and pray.
I need Your help to obey You;
Live for You always.
Meet me in my hour of need, Lord,
As I pray to You.
Help me walk in fellowship, Lord,
Living in Your truth.
Jesus, how I long for You to
Change my heart anew.
Father, God, my heart’s desire
Is to live for You this hour
In Your Holy Spirit’s power
Living in me now.
Teach me to walk in Your love, Lord,
Guiding me each day.
Help me to show love and kindness
To the lost, I pray.
Father, teach me to love others
As You love always.
Holy Spirit come in pow’r.
Revive our hearts in this hour.
Change our hearts to be like You, Lord;
Live for You each day.
Help us to forsake our sins, Lord,
As we humbly pray.
Teach us how to live for You, Lord,
Obey You always.
Holy Spirit come in power,
Revive us today.
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