SHED THOSE WEIGHTS

Hebrews 12:1-2 AMPC

Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, 

[2] Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.


Weight! Bulk! Mass! Don’t we all struggle with it? Either we want to gain some or lose some. For some people, it’s a fluctuating issue. The loss and gain of weight is a big thing and has created a billion-dollar enterprise the world over. People will go to any length to lose weight for various reasons. Unnecessary weight is unhealthy and should be shed for health reasons, but doing all kinds of things as we see today to try and stay “socially acceptably thin” is wrong and unacceptable.

The Bible does not directly address weight loss, but it does give us principles for how to live a godly life, take care of our bodies, and stay healthy. The Bible teaches us to glorify God with our bodies in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and to avoid gluttony and idolatry in Proverbs 23:2 and Colossians 3:5. We should lose weight and exercise for the Lord, not for ourselves, and seek the Holy Spirit's help to overcome any sinful habits.

Our text, though telling us to shed, strip, or lay down every weight that binds us, is referring more to spiritual things and not just physical weight. We can shed all kinds of weight—these are things that weigh us down, stopping us from achieving our best and fulfilling our purpose. These weights could be mental, emotional, psychological, spiritual, and of course, physical. Shedding weight involves labour. We cannot lose physical weight without exercising, and the same is true for spiritual weight loss; we cannot shed this spiritual weight without spiritual exercise.

What spiritual weight are you lugging around that needs to be shed? We must throw off every weight of sin that so easily entangles, stifles, restricts, and limits us through a disciplinary diet, laid aside by candidates for the prize in racing. Carnal and worldly lusts, and all, whether from without or within, that would impede the heavenly runner, are the spiritual weights to be laid aside. All superfluous weight: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, and even harmless and otherwise useful things which would positively retard us, as seen in Mark 10:50 with the blind man casting away his garment to come to Jesus.

People lose weight for various reasons. A bride sheds weight and keeps it down to fit into the perfect dress for the perfect day. The new mother sheds all the weight gained from pregnancy to maintain a good and healthy shape. Some people may just want to shed the weight gained over the years from indulging too much.

As it is with the physical, so it is with the spiritual. We gain unnecessary weight from life’s challenges and doing the wrong things. Just as bad habits stick and create all kinds of problems, so too do bad spiritual habits stick and cause us to have unwanted and damaging baggage that becomes too heavy for us to carry and fulfil our God-given purpose.

Our text is telling us to lay down and aside anything that hinders our Christian Walk and progress. Anything addictive, that weakens or slows us down. Weights like arrogance, conceit, pride, lust, greed, and all mentioned in 1 John 2:16.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” We glorify the Lord in our bodies by taking care of the total man—spirit, soul, and body—by shedding everything unwanted.

To shed and keep shedding weight, we must remember what Proverbs 13:25 says: “The righteous eats to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.” Let’s therefore endeavour to feed on things that nourish the soul and not put unnecessary weight on us.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to keep to my idle weight in my total man, so that I am unrestrained in following and serving you in Jesus’ name, amen.

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/womenoflight/episodes/SHED-THOSE-WEIGHTS-e2r6np8

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SHALOM







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