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; • Galatians 4:21-31; Lamentations 3-4; Psalm 146

On April 26, 2003, Aron Ralston was climbing the narrow canyons of Utah alone, when he accidentally dislodged a boulder that fell on his right arm. This boulder trapped his arm against a rock. At first Aron thought he could push aside the boulder and rescue his arm, but it was too heavy. All his efforts proved abortive.

Aron had with him only a video camera and no mobile phone, and so couldn’t call for help. Also he had not told anyone where he was going, making it most unlikely for his family to know where to find him.
While trapped there for the next 5 days, he tried everything he could to free himself but all to no avail.
By the third day, the chocolate bars and little water he carried with him had finished .
By this time, his trapped arm was no longer alive. He had no feeling in it and it was cold, hard and stiff. Believing he was going to die there, Aron then recorded his “last will and testament” in his video camera.
However, on the fifth day, he realized that if he could only leave his dead arm behind he could manage to escape.
He then made a decision to do the unthinkable.
With a small knife from his toolkit he amputated his own arm. He used pieces of climbing kit as a tourniquet to stop himself from bleeding to death. He then somehow managed to scale a 65ft cliff to escape the canyon. He was eventually found and picked up by a search-and-rescue helicopter dispatched by his family to look for him.
The story of his amazing survival is documented in his autobiography ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place’ and it is the subject of the 2010 film titled ‘127 Hours’.

Spiritually, there are things we must let go off, so as to stay alive..
We are admonished by God’s Word to cut off anything that will hinder us from entering into God’s kingdom.
Jesus said if your arm or leg is a hindrance, you need to cut it off.
While this may not mean physically cutting off our body parts, it conveys the seriousness of dealing with spiritual weights in our life’s race.

Hebrews 12:1 says, ‘.. 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.’

Spiritual weights are things that keep us back from truly worshipping God in Spirit and in truth. They stop us from an intimate relationship 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.

Spiritual weights make it difficult for us to please God.
They may be sins, habits, indulgences, associations or sinful addictions that slow us down and cause us to fall.
Indeed sin is a dead weight that can eventually sink a man and halt his every progress in life..

Therefore whatever is a threat to our spiritual race must be cut off.
At Calvary, Jesus died to deliver us from the trap of sin and demonic bondages.
Through His Blood we have the power to overcome the temptations and deceptions of the enemy.
Therefore, today, whatever you feel is holding you back spiritually,.begin to release the Blood weapon against them.

Let us make the decision to walk closely to God’s Word, so as to receive the grace and strength to run our race acceptably.
As we maintain a lifestyle of praise and worship, we will abide in God’s Presence where the fullness of joy dwells. This joy of the Lord is the strength with which we will win our race.

Indeed by God’s grace, we receive the strength today, to break away from every weight and hindrance so as to run with joy the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and finisher of our faith.

PRAYER: Lord, 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 always a life that pleases You at all times in Jesus’ Name.

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