Held Back

...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1b

Have you ever walked around with some form of weight? Maybe it was a heavy backpack or purse or maybe training weights strapped to your wrists or ankles or maybe heavy boots or clothing. Alot of things could fall into that category, but the point is, any weight that you carry long enough becomes the norm. You forget you're carrying it...and you don't even realize anymore how much it's slowing you down and tiring you. In our Christian walk we encounter many things that can hinder us. There are sins that berate us and try to knock us off track, get us distracted and lost; and there are weights that slow us down and wear us out. Weights may not even be sins, in and of themselves. They might just be things that are holding us back from reaching our full potential. I challenge you, though, to examine your life honestly for both weights and sins that are hindering your running. And when you identify them, i challenge you to lay them aside. This is, I warn you, a process--you'll have to remind yourself every day to set it aside; and sometimes you'll fail. But when you realize you've picked it back up, don't keep carrying it. Lay it back down! I guarantee that if you lay some sins and weights aside, you'll notice the difference in your life.