CAST IT OFF

Hebrews 12:1 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.

Ahh, the beauty of a September morning in Northern Michigan; the perseverance of the sunrise determinedly vanquishing the lingering overnight mist; a steaming cup of coffee enjoyed on the deck, a comfortable old flannel shirt, the smell of the prior evening’s campfire mingling with all the other unique up north aromas; a woodpecker knocking on the side of your house….WHAAAT?????

Yep, that’s right…stupid woodpecker, spoiling my serene morning.  Just as I settled back down, preparing to take another sip of coffee, there it was…tap, tap, tap…relentless, tap, tap, tap.  Oh as soon as I got up and walked around the corner, he would fly to the nearest tree but only temporarily.  Then back again, tap, tap, tap.

Such is life.  We are strolling along at any easy gait, enjoying the scenery and there it is…an aggravation, relentlessly tapping away at our serenity…a weight has beset us.  Now the verse in Hebrews also talks about “SIN” and though it can wrap its many tentacles around you, sin is something we actively choose to allow in our lives.  Sin is easily identified and can be avoided, resisted and turned aside.  Weights have some of the same characteristics but they are not so easily identified.

Weights can begin as necessary elements of our life; they are NOT sins but they can hinder life’s race and sap your endurance.  Tap, tap, tap, day after day; the weights began to wear us down.  They consume our thoughts, our energy, our emotions until we are no longer running the race and can hardly put one foot in front of the other as we survey the long road ahead. 

Oh there are days when we “yell,” wave our arms, and chase off the offenders but like a pesky woodpecker, they come back…tap, tap, tap…tap, tap, tap.  STOP yelling, waving and chasing…CAST OFF the offender.  I know that it isn’t easy.  You may have not picked up the weight in the first place but by carrying it day after day, you have allowed it to grow and you are allowing it to weigh you down.  Now it is up to YOU to do something about it…CAST IT OFF!!!

Back to that woodpecker on my house…he is looking for some tasty bugs, so I am going to REFUSE to supply the object of his search.  Step back; consider the weights you are carrying, what is their source of nourishment??? REFUSE TO SUPPLY THEM!   When they drag you down to your knees, LEAVE THEM THERE!   Don’t pick them up and hang them around your neck when you rise.  Cast your weights on God, He is much better equipped to carry them and HE HAS THE MIRACLE SOLUTION that will eradicate the tap, tap, taps of your life.