Look at yourself

Quick recap from my previous post. We are looking at Hebrews 12:1-2. The author is teaching us how to properly prepare to succeed. The first principal was to look at the previous winners and emulate their faith. Here's the second principal: Assess yourself. "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles", which tell us to look at ourselves and evaluate our lives. To finish the race of life as a winner, we must constantly pause to step back and honestly look at everything in our lives. This could mean giving up that extra TV time or scaling back on our facebook time to open up space to read God's word. It could mean dropping some religious activities to open up more time to reach out to those who don't know Jesus. Maybe strictly monitoring your budget so you can give generously.

The key here is constant self assessment to determine if you are still listening to and following God's direction. Throw off the things that distract you from who God has called you to be. Just like an athlete who trains with an intentional impediment, such as sprinter running with a parachute or someone performing tasks with weighted apparatuses, lay those things down before you enter the arena of your competition. Run His race freed from the impediments that so often slow us down.