Read Hebrews 12:1-3 The things that so easily entangle

This passage really spoke to me this morning.  I know things have been off in my spiritual life.  I have a lot more time on my hands then I ever have had before; and I expected to be taking long walks talking to the Lord, writing more, ministering to individuals.  While those things are happening, they certainly aren’t the lions’ share of my time.  And I find myself bored and looking for things to fill up my empty hours.

A friend last week told me how frustrated she is because she finds herself idle too much of the time.  That rattled around in my brain for a few days, and I realize ‘idleness’ has become an issue for me.  This shocked me, frankly, because I have never been idle in my life!  I’m filling up my time with all kinds of things: reading, movies, surfing the net, shopping – whatever I can find.  For someone who has never been a time-waster, this is a pretty big deal.

That’s where Hebrews 12 hit me.  The “great cloud of witnesses” has always reminded me of a spectator sport.  It made me feel kind of creepy, actually, to think that these heroes of the faith are observing me fall flat on my face.  But digging deeper I see that it’s really more like testifiers; not witnesses of my spiritual race necessarily, but those who testify to God’s greatness, faithfulness and love.  In light of the testimony (chapter 11) of their perseverance and faith, “let us throw off everything that hinders…”  What hinders me?  It can’t be talking about sin, since that’s the next sentence.  What are those things that hinder my spiritual journey?  Distractions, time wasters, self-indulgence, my baggage.  There’s a song that says ‘you can’t run with suitcases in your hands’.  Weighing me down.  What is the extra ‘clothing’ I put on? (thinking of a runner wearing too much)  Pretense, people pleasing, guilt, shame, masks, fear; I can almost feel these draped in layers over me.  Making a good impression so people like me is a huge motivator; even those closest to me can shrivel me with a look or a scowl.  Everything that hinders needs to be thrown off.   There are probably things I don’t think of as especially important, but God takes seriously.  And, I have figured out, most of these lead to sin if they aren’t sin already.  In my case, idleness and boredom has lead me to fill my time up with time-wasters; which may not be bad in themselves but certainly aren’t edifying and are making me lazy.  It’s easier to sit and read than to call and find out how someone is doing.

These hindrances lead to “the sin that so easily entangles”.  How well I know that! It’s all weighing me down, tripping me up, blinding me to the things I should be doing (which somehow always seem very clear the next morning).  Making me ‘ineffective and unproductive’ as it says in 2 Peter 1:8.  Throwing these off will allow me to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us”.  Running indicates action; forward movement instead of sitting, resting and relaxing.  I’ve heard it said that if you’re not moving forward in your spiritual life, you are moving backward.  Even when I’m in a period of waiting on God, it’s not my vacation time away from spiritual care.  Far from it.  Instead of lethargy, which has led to apathy, I need to be running with perseverance.  Stick-to-it-iveness.  Don’t quit.  A race that is marked out for me, not running blindly or aimlessly.  The word race implies there are others and we are competing.  I don’t want to get left behind; I want to ‘run in such a way as to get the crown’ (1 Cor 9:24). A course chosen for me, not something I get to decide.

Perhaps you can relate to my prayer:  “Oh Lord, I see what I’ve been doing.  Hindrances and entangling sin working in tandem.  Lethargy and apathy are an outcome.  This is much harder to shake off than I thought.  I was NEVER like this before and somehow I slid into it with my eyes half-closed.  I need Your help to throw them off; a forceful deliberate action.  Run away from them!  Enough sitting around; get moving! Stick it out even though it’s tough at first.  Get in the race that You have marked out for me.  How do I do this Lord? By ‘fixing my eyes on Jesus’ and not taking them off of Him.  He knows the way and He will lead me.  I must look for Him so I know the way to go.  I must stop taking my eyes off of Him and putting them on myself or my problems or desires or fears.  Lord, I need Your help!”

Bring your own entanglements before the Lord today.  Scrutinize them in His presence.  And run your race to win!