Every Weight

by Shelia Gaines

Verse for Thought:
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Hebrew 12:1

Many years ago, a gynecologist told me that what happens to a lot of women the age I was at the time is that they start gaining a pound or two each year. That doesn’t seem like much at first because it’s only a pound or so and they only think about it at check-up time each year. But then they get on the scale a few years later, and they have gained ten pounds. Now, it is a big problem because they see the whole ten pounds! Because they did not take care of the first few extra pounds in the beginning, they find themselves at a loss as to how they will lose the ten pounds.
Maintaining spiritual health is just as important. When we become complacent about our walk with the Lord, we can slip away from a close relationship with the Lord without even realizing it. One day we wake up and realize that we are not as close to God as we used to be, but we don’t know what happened. It may seem like it has happened over night, but in the words of a contemporary song, “it’s a slow fade.” Because it happens a little bit at a time, it can sneak up on us and we will find yourself without our faith when we need it the most.
You can’t just think about your health in January each year as you start another resolution to lose weight and to eat more healthily. That will cause you to fall back to your old habits of eating unhealthily and not exercising as much or not exercising at all. It has to be about lifestyle change, not simply to joining a fad or fitting into a certain outfit or being part of the latest fitness rage.
Maintaining a healthy weight will be easier if you consider how each meal or snack you eat will affect your body as well as your life. Likewise, if you allow yourself to think about how you will face God for your decisions and actions, it will be easier for you to maintain a healthy walk with him because you will be less likely to pick up the “added weight” of ungodly activities and associations.

Let’s Pray:
Lord, help me to lay aside those things (activities, relationships, interests) that are not like you. Help me to always be mindful of what it takes to maintain my walk with you, to understand what it means to walk “with” you and not ahead or behind.

Take the Next Step:
Read all of chapter 12 of the book of Hebrew. Make a list of “weights” in your life. Pray about those and ask God to show you how to take steps to move beyond those things and closer to him.