Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

In the ancient world, athletes didn’t step onto the track wrapped in layers. Greek runners famously competed butt naked. They wanted zero drag. Anything that slowed them down was foolish to keep. They didn’t care what others thought about their bodily imperfections.

They ran to win. Do you run to win?

1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.

Many Christians today step onto the track of faith bundled up like they’re heading into a blizzard. Spiritually speaking, we are overdressed. Weighted down. Wrapped in things we don’t need and shouldn’t keep. And then we wonder why we feel exhausted…discouraged…defeated, moaning and groaning how the love of the world and the desires of the flesh are too strong. We lose sight of the fact that we are fighting an uphill battle to start with. Hebrews makes it clear that there are two things we must lay aside: There are weights and there is sin.

Let’s start with the more obvious one: sin.

Running with sin is impossible. Trying to run the Christian race while clinging to sin is like tying your own shoelaces together and sprinting. It trips you. Entangles you. You faceplant and eat dirt. You’re out of the race. Disqualified. Put to shame. That part is obvious, and most Christians at least acknowledge that sin needs to go.

It’s impossible to run the race when you are fornicating, committing adultery, gossipping, slandering, stealing, grumbling, lying, cheating, etc.

But Hebrews doesn’t stop at sin. It also says: lay aside every weight.

Weights aren’t necessarily evil. They’re often neutral things. Amoral things. Lawful things.

1 Corinthians 10:23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.

They’re the things that don’t send you to hell but keep you from running well.

True or false? You can run a marathon in a parka and Timberlands. True. You’ll still be “in” the race. But you won’t thrive. And you definitely won’t win.

Too many believers are spiritually gasping for air while clinging tightly to the very burdens that are draining them. We call them comforts. We call them entertainments. We call them guilty pleasures. Scripture calls them…weights.

  • Hours of mind-numbing TV and endless scrolling.
  • Late-night gaming “with the boys” that quietly replaces real community.
  • Obsessive hobbies that consume energy without producing fruit.
  • Sports, fantasy leagues, and statistics studied more faithfully than Scripture.
  • Worldly media on repeat, shaping desires more than truth.
  • Curating an online persona while neglecting the actual soul.

None of these may be sin in themselves…but could they be slowing you down? Keeping you distracted, immature, and spiritually flabby?

So maybe the most honest question we can ask today is:

What do I need to drop? Not just: Is this a sin? But also: What’s heavy? What’s unnecessary? What’s slowing my soul?

Jesus didn’t run like that. He ran joyfully. He ran purposefully. He ran with the finish line in view. Run like Him. Free, focused, fixed on the Father’s will.

“Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.” - C.T. Studd, Only One Life