Not forgetting to remember my own failings!

Good Monday morning on this first day of February 2010 and welcome to another week where I find myself doing word trapeze without a net. Lately I have been thinking about the opening words from what we call Hebrews Chapter 12: “1)Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2)looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” These words follow that great text where folks past, present, and future are singled out for their faith in God despite horrific challenges and circumstances.

The phrase, and the sin that so easily ensnares us, is a very personal one because it speaks to each individual and their need to deal with their very own temptations. That’s right. Many of us have grown up in a circle of belief that has often been identified by what it is that we do not do. It’s the old cliché: "I don’t smoke and I don’t chew and I don’t go with the girls that do.” Jesus dealt with folks that were steeped is this profile of self-definition. Many times He, in very scathing tones, rebuked them for their sanctimonious spirit because He could read their hearts. And so it goes with us today, if we are not careful. It is extremely important what we do and not do, but relationship with God is not defined by our human efforts, it only comes through a believing faith in God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews wrote to Jewish people who had placed their faith in Jesus. These folks knew all about the law, the rules of conduct, and the traditions from their elders. They would have been intimately familiar with the heroes of faith mentioned by name in Chapter 11. In fact, the recipients of this letter were folks who were undergoing persecution and pressure to renounce Christ and return to the rituals of Judaism. This is the setting that brings us to a personal challenge found in the words I quoted above. The inspired writer throughout this great letter encouraged them to consider the blessings of knowing Christ, consider His fulfillment of every type represented in their previous practices, and to not lose heart as they remained faithful to Him. That leads into our verse in just how it is that we can run our own race, not the other fellow’s race, but the one we have been given to run. Our “run” includes taking stock of and in dealing with the sin that so easily ensnares us, therefore, we should spend more time dealing with the huge timbers that end up sticking in the eye of me, myself, and I, than in trying to use a microscope in examining the tiny splinter marring the other dude’s vision. (See words of Jesus in Matthew 7:5) Good preaching, brother, because me, myself, and I need to hear it! Amen. ….More later.