Today’s New Covenant nugget is from Hebrews 12:1
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
Endurance is key when it comes to finishing a long race…
In this passage of scripture, the Holy Spirit highlights two things that can hinder our endurance… ‘every weight’ and ‘sin’ that ensnares us…
Let’s begin by talking about the weight that we carry… a weight is a burden, something that we worry about, something that we stress about… it may even be something that we have done in the past that is condemning us! It is time to lay aside every weight by faith! Give the weights that you are carrying to Jesus… cast your cares upon Him by faith!
The second hindrance to running with endurance is sin… to be clear, as a born-again believer, you are not a sinner… you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. As a righteous believer you can still ‘miss the mark’ (that is what the Greek word for sin literally means). To sin is to turn left when the Lord says to turn right… when we fail to do things God’s way it is called sin… if we continue to do this, our actions will ensnare us and this will interfere with our ability to endure!
The key to overcoming sin is ‘repentance’… the Greek word translated as ‘repentance’ is ‘metánoia’… it literally means, ‘to change your mind’, or to change what you believe to be true. We do what we do because we think what we are doing is right, even if what we are doing is not in line with the Word… that is called sin… to repent is to change what you believe (according to the mind of the flesh) and to accept that God’s way is best! Your way (the way of your flesh according to your natural unrenewed mind) has only caused hardship… it is time to submit ‘our ways’ and ‘our beliefs’ to the Lord and to make whatever changes we need to make ‘by grace’ to get in line with God’s way of doing things!
Hebrews 12:1 talks about weight and sin as a snare - a snare snaps onto an animal and pierces them… an animal can break out of a snare, but still have the snare attached, eventually killing them! Hebrews 4:1 tells us to LAY ASIDE every weight and every sin that ensnares us… in other words, LET GO of your cares and your own way of doing things and then LET GOD deal with your cares and let Him teach you HIS WAY.
Letting go and walking away from ‘weight’ and ‘sin’ leads to supernatural endurance! Carrying things that we were not designed to carry and stubbornly doing things our way instead of God’s way ensnares us and acts as kryptonite to supernatural endurance… get it?
Blessings on you, in His amazing Love, Nick
