Hebrews 12:1-2 | What's a lesson for the original audience?

The imagery that the author of Hebrews gives is a very relevant one. We can all understand running. We can all understand a race. We can also imagine the difficulty of running that race while weighed down or ensnared by something. The instruction that Hebrews gives is to deal with the things that weigh down and ensnare so that the runner can truly run the race set before Him.

This instruction is an interesting one. It leads the reader to ask two important questions. What is a weight? What is the sin that ensnares? An important distinction needs to be made. The weight is something that slows us down. It is not the same thing as the sin that so easily ensnares us. I know many Christians that actually do incredibly well in avoiding the sin that so easily ensnares. However, those same Christians are weighed down by cares and affairs of this life. Many of them sound similar to the Corinthians. "All things are lawful to me!" And so I must respond as Paul does. "But not all things are beneficial."

Undoubtedly, the believer understands that they must not sin. That is clear. A man who is weighed down, however, is significantly more susceptible to sin. If the cares and affairs of this life are simply excused, the race becomes increasingly difficult to run. It is as I heard a preacher say. Many men will stop short of God things so that they can simply have good things.

Scripture instructs for us to deal with them both. We are to deal with the weights and the snares. As the original audience was facing their own mortality and the cost of all comforts, this is the instruction the writer of Hebrews gives. Lay these things aside and run the race set before us, looking unto Jesus.

What lesson do you see?