Hebrews 12:1 ‘Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, 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.’

DAILY READING: Matthew 12:22-50; Leviticus 15-16; Proverbs 27

In June 2019, The Queen of England, the US President, and other heads of state attended the 75th anniversary of the D-Day Landings, also known as the Normandy Landings. The D-Day Invasion, which took place on June 6, 1944, was the largest military naval, air and land operation ever attempted in history. It marked the start of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied northwest Europe. Troops from the UK, the US, Canada, and France attacked German forces on the coast of northern France on that day. They simultaneously landed tens of thousands of troops on five separate beaches in Normandy.

On that day, more than 6,330 boats carrying thousands of men launched an invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. But many of the first troops to arrive at the beaches in Normandy, were accidentally dropped off by their landing boats into waters that were too deep. The landing crafts were meant to have dropped them off in the shallow sides of the water close to the shore, but they miscalculated the distance. And so when these men jumped off the boats, it was to find themselves going into unexpectedly deep waters. As a result many of these soldiers drowned. The reason for their drowning was mostly due to the weight of their guns and equipment and the cans of food they were carrying, which weighed them down. Without the weights many could have swum to the shore, but each American soldier was carrying about 75 pounds. As a result many didn’t make it, and drowned even before they had a chance to get to the shore to fight.

Just as carrying too much weight was disastrous for these soldiers, likewise as soldiers of the cross, we are required to lay aside every weight so as to effectively fight the battles before us.

Hebrews 12:1 says, ‘Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, 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.’

Life is a race, and to win in this race, we must “lay aside every weight” that would drag us down. Weights are those things in our lives that are contrary to God’s will for us. Weights are things that drag us down spiritually and keep us from making progress in the journey of life. They keep us from walking in step with the Spirit by burdening us with things of the flesh.

The word “weight” is from the Greek word ogkos — a word that describes a burden or something so heavy and cumbersome that it impedes a runner from running his race as he should. These things make it difficult for us to please God. We are also asked to get rid of besetting sin. Besetting sin is that thing that you find yourself struggling with all the time. It may be an addiction, obsession, immorality, critical spirit, bad temper, selfishness, gossip, bitterness, telling lies, an envious spirit, Internet porn, etc. The sin that besets, does not just slow you down – it trips you up to fall and eventually stops your progress. Every sin is a sinker and the weight of sin will eventually sink a man if it is not stopped in time.

And one way to deal with sin is through spending time with The Lord in His Word and prayers. As we wait in God’s Presence, fleshly tendencies die off and we receive the power to say ‘No’ to temptations.

Indeed as soldiers of Christ, we must rid ourselves of anything that hinders us to effectively fight spiritual battles. We must break off every weight so that we can run unhindered this race of destiny helped along by God’s grace!

PRAYER: Lord, I know You have so much in store for me. Please enable me to lay aside weights and things that hinder me from making progress in my spiritual journey. I receive grace today to live a life that pleases You always in Jesus’ name.

QUOTE: Nothing liberates like truth. The truth you know and act upon will set you free. – WORDBITE 222.