Lay It Down

The Lord put this on my heart to blog about.

Hebrews chapter Twelve verse One:

Hebrews 12:1 (New Living Translation)

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 trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

There is a difference between sin and weight. Sin is that which causes us to miss the mark and separates us from God. The bible states if we confess our sins to Jesus, He is faithful and just to forgive us. Now the question comes in then, what is the weight?

Sin has weight, but the weight here is not sin. The word weight in the Greek is ogkos- it means burden. There are weights or burdens that God says for us to lay down. Religion binds us while relationship with Jesus frees us.

The question is what are the burdens that God desires for us to get free from.

1. Religious jargon. When Jesus came to the Pharisee they would try to manipulate the law and accuse Jesus of not following the law. Yet, they themselves would add to it. They used religious jargon to convince those around them how good they were. We are saved by grace not by works.

2. Hate, unforgiveness, self-righteous attitude. These are weights that cause us to slow down and can even cause us to stop running. Jesus never condemns anyone, He is always looking and pointing out the potential in each of us. John 8:11 The women caught in adultery, He said when all the accusers left, Where are your accusers and the Woman said I see none. He said neither do I condemn you go and sin no more. The key is go!

3. It's any thing or thought that hinders us from serving God to the fullest. It's the non-essentials of life.

Here what it says in Acts 15:28-29

“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements: ²⁹ You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell.”

They were debating on whether or not they should make all the gentiles get circumsised, because that was the law. So, they realized this was a non-essential. Christ had paid for our sins and He circumcises our heart. Finally they said, live life as Christ did. Do not engage in idol practices and sexual sins.

So, if you have asked the Lord to forgive you, Don't be entangled again with the yoke of bondage(Galatians 5:1) . God wants us to be free of all the weights that would cause us to miss all that He has for our life.

Bless you,

Pastor Mark