Followers

About Me

My photo
A layman's views on the Bible

Friday, May 1, 2009

Hebrews 12:1,2 antidote for clutter

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Judy and I have been married almost 46 years.....wonderful years as well. And this year we moved...so what you might say, what's the big deal? Clutter, that's the big deal...after 46 years you accumulate a lot of stuff, some of you understand better than others just what I mean. You don't realize just how much stuff until you move into a place that is a lot smaller. Then you realize that you have a way too much stuff. One meaninhg from the online dictionary that I frequently refer to describes clutter as a disorderly heap. An example statement: "it is impossible to find anything in all that clutter." Sometimes our lives are like that; cares weigh us down, family issues, health issues, finances, things that we accumulate can be burdensome to the point that they rob us of our time that we should spend with God...our first priority. This scripture reference from the book of Hebrews admonishes us to "lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with patience (endurance) the race that is set before us". This Christian life is like a race that we must run and as in any race there are hurdles...roadblocks if you will that we must jump over and in order to do so there are things that you have to rid yourself of in order to lighten your load. You need to lighten the load in order to run faster, sometimes in order to run at all. Burdens we bear can be overwhelming and sometimes we don't seem to no where to turn, it's as if we have lost our way. But the writer to the Hebrews gives us the answer..."looking unto Jesus" What a revelation! It's as though I never saw it before, although I must have read it a thousand times before, give or take a hundred or so. As I read this again this morning, it's as though He is just revealing it to me. "Looking unto Jesus". It's not hard to do. It is a Divine revelation; it's as though He was opening my minds eye to see Him standing there at the finish line cheering me on saying "you can make it, just lay aside those burdens that are weighing heavily on your heart, in fact, here...give them to Me, I will take care of these things, you don't have to carry them anymore." He's the Author and He's the Finisher of my faith. I do not have the faith but He has and He gives me just what I need when I need it. Let Him get rid of the clutter, He's the professional. An old hymn of the church comes to mind, "come every soul by sin oppressed, ther's mercy with the Lord, and He will surely give you rest, by trusting in His Word." And then the chorus "only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him now. He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now." "Cast your burdens on the Lord and He will sustain you." Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!

2 comments:

Coffee said...

Good morning Randall,you are so right the things of life can soon bog us down and down and down with which it seems no way out of the messes we so easily get ourselves into but cann't get ourselves out of. We all do this and we all try to get ourself out of it but make things even worse .I think maybe it is time we smarted up and just give it all to JESUS to look after.....because HE can.God bless you today and keep the Blogs comming.

Coffee

C.M. said...

hi Randall
I have been in that place were the burdens of life had me so weighted down that I throught that I would never see the light again.
And like you it is scriptures that come to life when you see them as if for the first time.
Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. [NIV]
Luke 1:37 For nothing is impossible with God.[NIV]
These are just 2 that comes to mine now but there are to many to count.
One by one the burdens of life add up,they get to heavy for us
and when the weight brings us to our knees,that is when we can see God. It is on our knees that we give God our trust, and as He takes away each burdens we start to rejoice .
As you say, as long as we live there will be problems,but I give thanks to God that He can over come them all.
C.M.