Hebrews: What’s Slowing You Down?

We’ve spent a lot of time on the “great cloud of witnesses” that are spurring us on. We’ve talked about the Lord Jesus lifting us up in prayer. We have fellow believers walking with us). God has given us His Word and His Spirit to help us. But what is our part in this long journey of faith? I’m glad you asked!

Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, 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.” There are two points to make here. First, consider the context and time. Runners now have scientifically designed clothing to help them run faster. There is a whole industry dedicated to creating the fastest running shoes. But for a first-century man running meant shedding what he modestly could and tucking the long skirt of his tunic in his belt to free up his legs. I think you understand the application here. Get rid of everything – like sin – that might get tangled up and slow you down.

But here’s something I discovered that blew my mind, The Greek for “everything that hinders” is a compound phrase that means “skillfully surrounding, to prevent or retard,” and “well or much admired.” Do you see it? The things that hinder us in our spiritual life are often the things that the world – and sometimes the church – thinks well of and greatly admires. Things that satan “skillfully surrounds” us with them to impede our progress. Friend, that should make us sit up and take notice! You and I cannot get bogged down by the things the world is applauding and holding up in admiration. And I’m not just talking about sin here. I’m talking about seemingly harmless distractions – and that’s the problem – they are distracting us from the things of God.

Christians – we’ve got to open our eyes to the work of the devil! We’ve got to look past the attractive mask of shiny things and see the enemy behind them. We must stop letting him hinder us with inane things that are useless for the Kingdom of God. There’s too much at stake here. The mission of the Church is at stake. Souls are at stake. God’s glory is at stake.

What “much admired” thing is the enemy using to slow you down, Beloved? Throw it off and get moving!

In the Morning . . .

My alarm goes off at 4:30 (yes a.m.) and after a shower and a steaming cup of life elixir, I am at my desk, ready to dig in and get all spiritual. I open my laptop and see that Facebook says I have notifications – I’ll just check those real quick to see if I need to respond to anyone and see who is having a birthday. I’d also better check the weather to see how I should dress today then I’ll get back to my quiet time But first I need to post the Scripture we’re writing today.  Oh, a friend is asking for prayer. I need to respond to her. And this looks like a good article. Oops, look at the time, I’ve just wasted 20 minutes! I need to get to writing.

I take the responsibility of writing a devotional every day very much to heart. (There have been a few mornings that a little girl needed her Nana and I didn’t get to the devotional.) I get in the Word and start to study, then with fingers on the keyboard, the Word and the Spirit speak and I type. I post the day’s devotional to Facebook and to my blog. Now I have just enough time to fix some breakfast and finish getting ready for work.  But wait. Something is missing. When did I take the time to pray? I didn’t.

With all the things I try to accomplish every morning – shower, feed the cat, clean up after midnight kitchen raids, study, write Scripture, write a devotional, eat breakfast, make lunch, and get out the door and off to work – prayer is too often a casualty of busyness and – let’s be honest – distractions. I know the power of prayer, yet I often fail to make time for it. So I decided to do just that – make time for it. I set my alarm for 4:00. Yes a.m. And to remind me that prayer is the priority, I made a lock screen for my laptop that I see before I can log on. 

David said, “In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation” (Ps 5:3). I realize that God cannot hear my voice in the morning if I’m not praying. I don’t want to miss this precious time. Beloved, have you been with the Lord yet?

Spiritual ADD

Yesterday, while writing in my prayer journal, I stopped to refill my coffee. While the Keurig was brewing, I decided I needed something quick to eat so I went to the pantry. Yes! One granola bar left, but the shelves were a disorganized mess.  Now if I can’t get my life in order, at least I can get my pantry in order. So I started straightening up the shelves. When my coffee finished, I figured I’d make a bathroom visit while I was up. The bathroom sink was a mess so I grabbed the pop-up wipes and set to work. Finally done, I headed back to the kitchen to retrieve my coffee and sit down. But I left my granola bar on the counter. Back to the kitchen to suddenly remember I left clean clothes in the washer last night, I need to throw them in the drier. Finally back in my study where I noticed my phone blinking a notification on Facebook. Let me check that real quick. And thirty minutes later I remembered I had been writing a prayer to God. I was embarrassed to return to my journal and admit that such insignificant stuff had pulled me away from Him. And that’s really nothing compared to the mental distractions when I’m trying to read the Bible and pray. Satan loves to throw all kinds of thoughts at me to break my focus.

How do such mundane, trivial, worldly things distract us from the majesty and beauty of the Lord God of heaven and earth? What on this earth could possibly compete with God’s holiness, righteousness, and perfection? When Isaiah had a vision of the Lord – “seated on a throne, high and exalted, the train of his robed filling the temple and the seraphs declaring “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty” (Is 6:1-3) – he could not take his eyes off of Him.

One day I will see the Lord face-to-face and I know that, as grand as heaven will be, He will be my only focus. So why not now? Maybe, Beloved, you need to join my prayer that God would grant us eyes to see even a small glimpse of Him so that nothing draws our hearts and minds away. Not even coffee.