Hi, this is Pat, and I’m so excited to be sharing the word of God with you. How are you doing with the Lord today? How is your walk with Jesus going? Is it feeling sluggish? Do you feel tired and weighed down? Do you feel like your prayer life is work and reading the word is like a chore? And sometimes you pray halfway, you don’t even finish your prayer time and everything just feels like it’s going downhill.
Well, sometimes what happens is we carry baggage that we don’t have to carry, because the Bible says we’re in a race, right? And when we look at athletes, when they go in a race, they don’t carry anything at all, nothing, including valuables. They leave everything every single day so that there are no distractions. So some of you may know where I’m going with this, right? I’m going to Hebrews 12:1. That scripture says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” If you read from the New Living Translation, it says strip off, strip those things off. What are those things in your life? Strip off the things that are slowing you down. There are things in your life that are slowing you down, that you’re still holding onto, or the things that you’re still allowing in your life. Those things are slowing you down. And there’s that sin that easily entangles us. There’s a sin that easily entangles us. It’s different for each person. But what is that thing? Think about it. What is that thing that’s slowing you down? Could it be gossip, prayerlessness, or could it be anger? Could it be fear? Could it be, I don’t know. Could it be pain in your heart? Could it be sickness? Well, I do not know what’s going on in your life, but what I know is you are holding on to something that could be weighing you down. And the Bible says, strip it off, strip it off because you are in a race. Leave that baggage because it’s hindering you. Leave it.
And you know, as I was saying about athletes, how they don’t carry their baggage. They leave it in the hotel room or wherever, and then they take it after they’re done and then they go. But in our case, we are so blessed we don’t have to carry anything after. We leave it at the cross of Jesus Christ. God says, when you put every heavy burden on me, it’s done. It’s dealt with. Jesus takes care of it. Isn’t that wonderful? So we strip off every single thing. Think about those things like, God, help me to see, shine your light in my heart so I can see those things that easily entangle me, those sins that easily entangle me, or those weights that are hindering my race, those things that are slowing me down in my walk with you. What are those things?
God wants to take care of those things for you. He wants to carry that baggage so you can run your race. And that sin, He sent Jesus to die for that sin. He wants to take care of that sin that easily, there is that one thing that is easily entangling you. And He’s like, no, strip it off, strip it off. Let me take care of that so you can run your race.
So today I want to pray for you. I want to pray that God shows you the things that are slowing you down. All the things, you list them down, that these are the things that are slowing me down and, Jesus, I give them to you.
Let’s pray. Father, I pray for every person that is watching today, and I pray that, God, you shine your light in their hearts. That God, they may see all the things that are slowing them down, all the sins that are easily entangling them, that God, it’s weighing them down, that it’s slowing their progress in their walk with you. It’s slowing them in their race. And I pray that by the end of the day today, they may see those things and they give it up to you. They put it at the cross of Jesus Christ. God, you’re so loving. You want us to run this race with no hindrances. You want us to run this race with no distractions, and thank you for providing the cross that we may leave all our baggage at the cross of Jesus. That is awesome, God, thank you so much for that. Thank you for every man, woman, boy, or girl who’s watching today. They’re so blessed because you love them. In Jesus’ name, we pray, we receive. Amen. God bless you everybody. I love you. See you next time. Bye.