Hebrews 12:1-2

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

 

A couple of weeks ago I went on a cruise with several of my friends. 7 days and 7 nights of fun, food, friendship, beautiful destinations, and memory making. My friends and I decided to carpool from Paris, TX to Galveston. We loaded up the cars with our luggage and the last to arrive was my friend Stormie. She’d never been on a cruise before, so when she showed up with only one suitcase, I wondered how in the world she was gonna make it all week.

So we arrive and it’s time to get from the car to the boat. Stormie rolls her bag to the luggage check-in with no problem. Then I realize as I begin unloading my bags from the car, that there’s no way I can pull all of my luggage alone! I was gonna need an army. I had multiple pieces of luggage. Large and bulky luggage. All of the sudden, it clicks…. I may not have needed everything I packed for this journey. I was overloaded. I hadn’t even left room for anything I might buy on the trip. The crazy thing was that as the week went on, I found I hadn’t packed enough of the essentials. I had 8 pairs of shoes but not enough underwear!

Sometimes in life we think we need to bring along things that really aren’t necessary. We load ourselves down, which slows us down, and cause others to pick up our excess that shouldn’t be there in the first place. Then we add all these “extras” such as being on the praise team, community service, group bible study, baseball, social media, etc… these things are great unless we end up leaving out essentials such as personal prayer and devotion time or family.

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 12 to throw aside not only the sin that ensnares us, but also every un-necessary weight. We do this so we can run to Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith. It’s hard to move fast with a bunch of baggage. It becomes a struggle to even get from one place to the next.

So what do we do? We focus on the essentials. Spend time prioritizing and getting back to the basics. What’s slowing you down? Is there really room and time for all the things you’re trying to pack in? Is there room for all the things God’s gonna give you on the journey?