Hebrews 12:1 (ESV)
Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith
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,
When we run a race we don’t want to carry a backpack full of rocks. We want to have the least amount of restrictions as we navigate the terrine. This is the image of the above verse. The readers would be familiar with this as the Greek’s Olympic Games were well known. Runners would strip to barely nothing to lose all weight that might hold them back. The fans in the stands and along the way would cheer them on to victory.
This is the vision we have of the Christian life. The witnesses in the above verse is the the Greek word for our English word, martyrs. We are surrounded by those who have gone before us and given their lives for our faith (Hebrews 11). They watch as we lay aside both the weight and the sin which clings so closely. The truth the author is making is that their are two things that hold us back from running a good race of faith:
1. There are weights that cling to us. These are not sins, as the writer makes a distinction between the two. These weights are things that slow us down but are necessarily sins. Things like too much social media scrolling. Things like too much of a good thing that might be not be sin but slows my walk with Jesus.
2. There are sins that certainly hold us back on our walk with Him. These are things we knowingly are doing that offend a holy and righteous God.
We can’t run with endurance if we are actively holding onto things that slow us down. We will eventually tire from fatigue and a lack of focus. We will not run, we will barely walk.
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