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Hebrews 12:1-2 "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus..."

 

INTRO

I believe every one of us should live with a 'fire' inside of us for the Lord (Rev 3:16).  But very few of us do.  And of those that do, probably very few keep that fire (zealous passion and love for God) burning consistently.

 

Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us that we're running a race after Jesus.  But it also says to run with endurance, and that's the part I've struggled with - sprinting, and then getting tired and slowing down, sprinting, and then getting tired and walking casually.  But God showed me a freedom and joy that comes when we are serious to lay aside those things that are hindering us, and it has really helped me.

 

No runner ever won a race who had weights tied to their legs, and the verse tells of two types of weights that hinder our running: 1. sin, and 2. 'encumbrances'.

 

It says we have to cast aside our sin (If we have conscious sin and trying to run after Jesus without repenting of them, we would be seeking God where He can't be found). I've learned that the secret to living in God's presence is to walk in a fear of God, taking my sin seriously, judging myself.

 

But I believe to get higher in the Christian life, if we are really serious, it's to also take the other part seriously: "lay aside every encumbrance [hindrance/distraction]."

 

It's not just to lay aside sin only, but anything that gets in the way of our passion for Jesus.  I saw that if we are serious for this, there's a new level of joy and freedom, and consistency that we can run with.

 

 

A MISER WITH OUR PASSIONS

I remember hearing someone talking about a godly man they knew, and they said of him, he was a "miser with his time." I've always heard the word 'miser' used in a bad sense.  But I was surprised to hear this was used in a good sense - this man was admired for being so strict with his time, that he rarely let it go for anything outside the things of God.

 

The Lord challenged me with a verse in Proverbs, that in the same way as this man was a 'miser' with his time (so that he could preserve it for Christ), I should be a 'miser' with my desires and affections (so that I can preserve them completely for Christ)!  The Lord can help me to have a heart completely taken up for Him:

 

Prov 4:23 "Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life."

 

Our 'heart' is all of our thoughts, and desires, and affections.  And a characteristic of people on fire for God is that they would be a 'miser' (careful) with their affections, not saving so much space in their heart for so many things outside of God, but for God Himself, and for other people.  God can give us this fire in our heart.

 

Matt 22:37   And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' 22:38   "This is the great and foremost commandment. 22:39   "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'

 

 

A PERSONAL STRUGGLE

I've struggled over the years to keep my desires completely for the Lord, but the Lord is helping, and as I think as to what's helped grow my desire for Him, two things have helped which mainly come to my mind:

 

1. Seeing the life of others who were filled with the Holy Spirit, and with a fire for God.  When I see people filled with the Spirit who seem to have no other interest outside of the Lord, this stirs me so much because it's a taste of what Jesus' life looked like, and it's a glimpse of what a heavenly life is, while here on this earth.  And it challenges me to seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit, because His is the only fire that is real and can really last.

 

A Spirit-filled person is a whole-hearted person.  A Spirit-filled person is a single-minded person for the Lord.  When we find these rare ones, we should value them because we will find some of the fire in their hearts can catch ours on fire, like the disciples with Jesus on the road to Emmaus.

 

And secondly:

 

2. Being serious about resigning myself from sin and distractions, deciding that God Himself is the only thing worth living for in these short years on earth.

 

"Let us also lay aside every encumbrance (hindrance) and the sin which so easily entangles us"

 

The Bible urges us to secure an undistracted devotion (1 Cor 7:35, 2 Cor 11:3) to Jesus.  I believe distraction (hindrance) is the opposite of devotion.

 

 

WHAT IS DEVOTION?

I've learned to define 'Devotion' for myself personally like this: "God and Jesus are all that matters to you."

 

A husband is devoted to his wife - one woman only, and no other woman.  Athletes may play many sports, but gold medalist Olympians are always devoted to just one sport.  Top musicians are devoted to their single instrument.  Devotion means; giving yourself completely to something - ONE thing (singular).

 

I remember hearing of a top piano player, when someone asked her how much she practiced, she replied, "I don't know. I just do it all the time."  That's the life of a devoted person.  They are so taken up with one thing that, they really can't put a number on how much that thing means to them - they are constant with it, and not distracted with 'other' things which take up their concerns.

 

There's no competition in the heart of devotion.

 

Jesus said to Martha:

I've had many 'lawful' interests over the years outside of Christ.  They weren't sin.  But I found that for some of them I had a tendency to go overboard to the point where they were taking up excessive mind-space. Attention. Desire. Time.  Some interests and habits I had became so intense that I'd be thinking about them a lot throughout the day.

 

And I found that for these, the Lord has gently spoke to me: "You're getting distracted from the One thing necessary."  It wasn't a hard, angry, compulsive word.  But a gentle, loving voice that's saying: "You know what's valuable.  It's time to focus completely on Me again.  Commit yourself to go all-in, and don't look back."

 

 

THE MOTIVATION

And over the years, there were times when I tried to juggle two passions: God and something else.  And it never worked.  I'd end up miserable, struggling with both.

 

But when I learned to decide: "Lord, nothing matters outside of you - take my passions. They are yours completely", then my life changed and rose so much higher almost immediately, every time I have done that.

 

It was casting aside hindrances for the Person, not just for the sake of being disciplined.

 

It is still a fight, but I've genuinely seen that as I proceed to try to die to distractions for the sake of living for God alone with this one life I have, some amazing things begin to happen:

 

 

THE BLESSINGS OF GIVING UP DISTRACTIONS

 

1. Our desires change.

 

As junk food ruins the taste buds for healthy food, I saw that my distractions were keeping my desire for the Lord and profitable things down at a lower level.

 

As I tried to cut down or remove many distractions, I found that my desire to spend more time with the Lord grew, and to be in the Word more. My desire for a lot of the distractions themselves that were hindering me, actually went down to almost zero.  I had more desire for profitable things, and being in Scripture turns from being a "Bible study exercise" into "private, intimate time with my Lord" that is exciting to look forward to.

 

2. We will begin to value time with God and people more, and time with 'things' less.

 

My definition of “Fun” Changed.

 

I started to enjoy fellowship with my family in the Lord much more. To be more excited to talk of the things of God.  I enjoyed listening to sermons more, and reading good Christian books more as if I was sitting in fellowship with the saints that wrote them.

 

As Rebekah must have been excited to ask Abraham's servant about Isaac on the way, you can tell when someone has this heart of devotion because their ears perk up with excitement when someone starts to talk of their Savior and things concerning Him!

 

You can tell where a person's heart is by what they are most eager to talk about!

 

When we cast aside the distractions, it gives room for our passion for the One thing that matters to grow in our heart, and take its rightful place of filling it completely.

 

3.  Our time will become more productive with profitable things.

 

I had more free time after giving up some things that choked my time and energy and so I found myself with time to meet needs which I was neglecting before. 

 

Most of us say "I have no free time", but really, if we are honest - probably a lot of it is taken up with distractions.

 

When we cast those aside, we'll have more time to do other things like helping more with chores around the house that needed to be done.  Or being faithful with time at work, helping the kids with things they need, being available for others to encourage them; even over a phone call or text.  We naturally will start to think of others more because our mind is more 'free' from the clutter that was holding it back.

 

4. We will experience more peace throughout the day, overcoming anxiousness and irritation.

 

I saw that when I take distractions seriously, I became less irritated by interruptions, less anxious to jump here and there doing many things.

 

I saw that - when my hand was clutching something I wanted to do, I would get irritated when that was interrupted.  But when I consciously fought to die to the desire to chase 'endlessly' my own plans for what I thought would give me rest and satisfaction, I started being ok with my time being taken up with other things.

 

My habit of grabbing my phone every free second went down.  It's still a fight sometimes, but it went significantly down from what it was.  I had less interest in watching or reading pointless things.

 

I was more diligent in my secular work because there was less temptation to take the time I should be spending on that with internet consumption and other things.

 

5. Thinking about good things becomes easier

 

The Bible says, "...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." (Php 4:8)

 

I've often found this so hard.  The Bible says, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”, but how do we do it?!  How do we control our thought life?

 

We reap what we sow.

 

Our thoughts are in large-part results of what we've been absorbing ourselves in recently.

 

I saw that the more we absorb ourselves in good things like Scripture, and in fellowship, and seeking the Lord (and less in distraction) our mind is transformed.  But the barrier to these things is often: distraction.

 

Our mind is totally transformed and freed from the constant pressure of chasing after pleasure, and it's freed from the 'rat race' and mess of this world's concerns when I seek the Lord to help me cast off hindrances and run the race after Jesus.

 

 

SERVING SELF IS EXHAUSTING

"Self" is a very hard task-master!  It will consume us to the point where we are exhausted, from all the focus in our mind on ourselves and our own interests.  That's why Jesus urged us, "Come to Me... All who are weary [tired of yourselves!]..." (Matt 11:28)

 

I mentioned how the Lord emphasized to me: "Don't look back."  Lot and his family were saved, but his wife didn't decide completely that following the Lord was worth everything.  She turned back to look (with longing) at the world she was giving up, and she was turned into a pillar of salt (Gen 19:26) - salt, which is void of life.  Life can't live in salt.

 

As long as we look with longing toward things outside of Christ, we'll be missing something of the life of Jesus.

 

We have to decide: I'm tired of being more excited for relaxation than running after Christ!  I'm tired of being more excited for so many other things than to spend time with Jesus!  I want to have a fire in my heart for the Lord that doesn't die out and it consumes everything else!

 

I have found these things will happen powerfully if we're serious to put the Lord first in our life.

 

But it starts with making the decision: "Lord I want you. I don't want anything else."  It's an act of the will that the Lord will take us seriously on.  He will help us to do it if we are serious.

 

Php 2:12 "..work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work [put HIS desires in you] for His good pleasure."