:. everything that hinders .:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Hebrews 12:1

That verse gets me every time. It follows the famous 'faith' chapter (which I would encourage you to read . . . that's some good stuff!)

We are not alone in this walk; there are many who have gone before us, as well as many following behind. I picture the saints who have already passed through this life crowded around some portal in heaven, cheering us on as we run our race.

So how exactly do we run with perseverance?

Obviously, we are to disentangle ourselves from the sin that trips us up. That's a no-brainer, though not always easy to do. Sin can have an iron grip on us; it can be comfortable; it can be fun; sin can even seem like a friend.

But if we're really honest with ourselves, sin isn't that hard to spot. Get rid of the sin, and you'll find you've a lot more energy for the race.

It's the other part that really gets me. The throwing off of "everything that hinders".

Have you ever stopped and thought, really thought, about your day-to-day life? The way you spend your time? The things you spend your money on? What your mind dwells on? What you put into your mouth? What comes out of your mouth? What you expend energy on? What things you're hoping for?

There are a lot of things that aren't sin per se, yet still hinder us in walking closely with our God. And since these things are not actually wrong, it's harder to discern that they are harmful.

And yet we're told to throw these things off.

Like a jacket on a warm day, some things we're just better off without.

We need to search ourselves, figure out what our personal hindrances are, and throw them off.

Oh, and the next verse pretty much sums up the only way we can be sure of finishing the race:

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus".

Yes, let's.