TODAY’S VERSE: HEBREWS 12:1 (NLT) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.
REVELATION:
How can I keep going? We, all have asked this question at one point or another in our lives regarding something that is not going our way, perhaps life itself. Today’s verse clearly reveals the answer to this question. As, I was meditating on this verse, I was reminded of my running experiences.
In 2001, a friend convinced me to run a Marathon with him, being a person who loves challenges, I took up on his offer and went into training. This being my first marathon I did everything that the Marathon Experts recommended, I trained for 18 weeks, and sure enough the hard-work paid off , I was able to finish the SunTrust Marathon, in Richmond Virginia.
Since then I have ran two other Marathons, but I have not been able to beat my finish time from the first Marathon. Even though my training schedule and my motivation was the same on all these Marathons, I have discovered one different which seems to be the reason for my failure to beat my personal record. That different is weight, I weight a little more since my first Marathon, and in running, weight makes all the different. The lighter you are the easier it is to keep on going.
Today’s verse likens life of faith with running. In today’s verse there are two important words that we must understand to get a clear picture of overcoming failure in this race that God has set before us. Those two words are weight and sin. Weight means, heaviness, a burden, or a load. This weight may be a continuous search of pleasure and material things in your life. The second word sin, it simply means, the act of not doing what God wants.
Dear reader, to be able to keep going in whatever circumstance you are facing, you are told to “strip off” whatever is holding you from being at your best, as well as what you clearly know is wrong. This is not easy to do, it is not a one day change, it does require God’s grace. Even though, it may seem like you have a lot of work in your part to do, Jesus is here willingly awaiting to help you out with your load. I encourage you to accept Him as your Savior, by confessing that He is Lord and believe in your heart that he died on the cross and was raised from the dead so that you can be saved. Don’t let this go another day start to run this race of life with endurance today!
PRAYER:
My Heavenly Father, thank You for Your wisdom and for calling me to You through circumstances. At times, I find myself helpless, weak and don’t know how to keep going, Your Word has reveal to me, I just have to re-evaluate my life and throw away things that I don’t need in my life. God, help me to see what I need to strip off and give me strength to follow Your ways at all times. I pray this through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
APPLICATION:
Most of us don’t like to admit our faults or evaluate our circumstances by examining ourselves. We tend to look for somebody or something to blame. Today’s verse encourage us to seek “endurance” not “escape”. If you are in a circumstance right now, evaluate how you got there and is there something in your part that you need to stop doing, and just ask for God’s forgiveness and ask Him to help you. It might take time, but it is better to start the process than to just give up and believe that, that’s the way you are. God wants the best for us, and the only way to receive His blessings is for us to let go of our own stuff. It might not be easy but it can be done with His help.
Here is an interesting story of what happen when you don’t let go:
Here is how they capture monkeys in Indonesia. No tranquilizer darts. No elaborate trapping mechanism. Nothing so hi-tech. What they use are peanuts and jars. Here’s how it works. They take these tiny jars, just big enough for a monkey to get an open hand into, fill them with peanuts, then tie them to trees. Monkeys, it seems, are just crazy for peanuts. They reach into the jar, grab a handful of peanuts, and try to pull them out. But the neck of the jar is too small. A fist closed around a handful of peanuts cannot be pulled out. They could get free if they were willing to let go of those peanuts. But few do. The vast majority are caught that way, hand still in the jar, grasping that small handful of nuts, captured by their own desire.
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