What weight and "easily encompassing sin" do I need to lay aside?

Part 2

Yesterday:  An Encouraging Cloud of Witnesses
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses.”
The faithful men and women who have raced successfully before us are a great encouragement to us.

“Let us lay aside every weight.” (a)
A runner carrying weights will not be an effective runner in his/her race.

Today:  Hindering Weights and Sins

“Let us lay aside every weight.” (b)
Interestingly, in life, there are many things that in and of themselves are not wrong, and a mature believer sees the difference between an activity that is sinful and one that is not.  For instance, a hobby or a habit can hold much weight in the believer’s life.  These weights (not sins) do not necessarily keep the believer from serving the Lord.  They just delay his/her progress in what the Lord has called them to do.

Any “extra-curricular” activity for the believer could potentially become a weight.  Suppose that action takes up an excessive amount of time.  In that case, time is taken from other necessary work, family responsibility, or taken from ministering to others; it is a “weight.”  The activity or action becomes too weighty if it takes precedence over our lives.  When should we lay aside an activity as a weight?  When duties are neglected or not performed to the best of our abilities because of it.

The point is that we are to “lay aside” all weights, those “general encumbrances” that can hinder our work, “our race” for the Lord.  In Rome, the racers “laid aside” everything or nearly everything they wore so that their running could be unencumbered.  For believers, we need to lay aside anything that will slow our progress in this race.

“And the sin which doth so easily beset us.”
Not only are we to “lay aside” any weights that might hinder our running, but in the second place, we are to put off our sin.  Yes, all sins are wrong, and we strive to keep them out of our lives.

Here, it is not just any sin, but it is the “besetting sin.”  What is a “besetting sin?”

“Besetting” is from a Greek word.  The word begins with “…[the prefix meaning] …readily, deftly, cleverly, and [then the word meaning] …to place itself round.  Hence, of a sin which readily or easily encircles and entangles the Christian runner, like a long, loose robe clinging to his limbs.  Beset is a good rendering, meaning to surround”[1] (Vincent).

Believers, we all have a sin that tries to wrap its tentacles around our lives.  What is the besetting sin that entangles you?  For every Christian, it may be different.  One thing is for sure, as long as we make excuses for our sin and fail to deal with it, putting it to death, the more our race for Christ is hindered.

Paul used the same ancient words about “laying aside” sins when he wrote to the Colossian believers,

“But now ye also put off [lay aside] all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth” (Colossians 3:8).

These and any other old sinful habits need to be “laid aside,” “put off,” as “laying off old clothes.”[2]

Along with setting aside our weights and besetting sin, there’s also a successful runners’ mindset that we need to apply to our race.  Tomorrow we will talk about it.  Please join us then.

Quote:  “…the Christian life requires a continual turning away from sin.  But it also requires constant faith, for the Christian daily looks to Christ for loving care.  The penitent believer never stops trusting in the saving power of the crucified and risen Saviour”[3] (P.G. Ryken).

[1] M.R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, the electronic version in eSword.
[2] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, the electronic version in eSword.
[3] Ryken’s quote is from his book, The Message of Salvation: By God’s Grace, for God’s Glory.  Downloaded: Monday, September 28, 2020.  From: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/repentance.