Be intent

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." Hebrews 12:1

When it comes to running and speed, there is a universal truth - excess weight carried significantly affects race times. In fact, a study by Runner's World magazine determined that even the weight of your shoes can impact your speed. And losing those extra pounds, they say, could gain you a better time by as much as one percent for each pound lost. To put that into perspective, it means that if a 200-pound man lost 10 pounds (five percent), he would be able to race five percent faster... turning a half marathon time of two hours into one hour and fifty-four minutes. Wow! Shedding the weight is really smart then for us runners, don't you think?

And when it comes to running our best spiritual race, the Bible is in agreement that you and I should shed the weight there as well - telling us to, "strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up." And how do we do that? By ridding our lives of the things that continually hold us back or cause us to stumble - those addictions, habits, hang-ups, thoughts, or actions that we know need to go (yet we keep hold of) that hinder us from running "with endurance the race God has set before us."

So if you have some “thing” you need to let go of today, you have a decision to make my friend. Will you remain content with the way things are? Or will you be intent to make those much-needed changes so you can press on to the finish line in record speed? The choice is yours. 

Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word that clearly tells us how we can reach the finish line. Help us to identify those things in our life that are keeping us from running our best race and to strip them off. And remind us that we are not alone in doing this. All the strength we need comes from You. It's in your precious name we pray, Jesus.

Happy Running!!!

Take my life-Jeremy Camp
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