We have all kinds of excuses for the things we do or don’t do. We love to play the “blame game”. We blame our past; we blame the devil; we blame our parents for the way they raised us or didn’t raise us. And we often try to blame other people or our situations for the decisions we make especially when it involves coming to church and serving Jesus. Today, Jesus wants you to make the decision to “Let Nothing Hold You Back”!
If you focus on Hebrews 12:1 it tells us to “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”
“Let us” tells you and me that it is an invitation that we are receiving from Jesus. He wants us to partner with Him to “Let Nothing Hold You Back”.
“Lay aside” means that you and I must now make a decision to not allow any person, any circumstance, nor the past to “Let Nothing Hold You Back”.
“Every weight” is the kind of weight that holds something down; it prohibits movement and freedom; “every weight” represents people in our lives and the situations that occur. These situations that occur in our lives are life lessons for us to learn to trust Jesus more and ourselves less. These situations are not meant to define us even though we may not always make the right decisions. You must refuse to let your past or your current circumstance define you and be a weight…“Let nothing hold you back”. We must not allow the decisions of other people to affect our walk with Jesus either. You must always keep in step with the Spirit and follow Jesus. Do not give the enemy any room to weigh you down so “Let Nothing Hold You Back”.
“The sin which does so easily beset us” simply means that we cannot be entangled by sin. Once we sin or mess up, be Godly sorrowful, confess it and move on because you cannot allow the enemy to condemn you so “Let Nothing Hold You Back”.
And finally, “let us run with patience the race that is set before us”. We know the race is not given to those who are strong but those who endure/who last to the end. The only way you can endure is if you fix your eyes on Jesus and refuse to “Let Nothing Hold You Back”.
It is Satan’s job to use people and our circumstances as weights. It is at that time he uses peoples’ foolishness and our circumstances to hurt us, to distract us, to discourage us, to weigh us down, to bind us and to try to get us to give up on Jesus.
So, regardless of the weight, “Let Nothing Hold You Back”.
Search myself and go deeper: I am carrying the weight of ___. I know that this weight has caused me to lose some relationships. It has crippled me. Lord, help me. Show me how to trust you with all things. I lay every weight at your feet. You are strong enough to carry all of my burdens.