ESOCS Devotional 25 December 2022
TEXT: HEBREWS 12:1-11
MEMORY VERSE: “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.” Hebrews 12:1
0 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. 12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted lace ”
Our attention is called to the need to be consciously diligent in the Christian race. We are reminded that there are witnesses all around us that testify to the fulfillment of the predictions of our Lord Jesus concerning the events that would be happening when the end time draws near. There are wars and rumours of war everywhere in the world (Matt. 24:6). There is an outstanding increase in knowledge (Dan. 12:4). There is an unprecedented rise in crime, corruption, and unbridled immorality across the world today. All these things happening in our time were foretold by our Lord Jesus Christ. They are signs telling us that the end of this present world is fast approaching (Matt. 24:4-14). Therefore, we do not have any excuse.
We are given the counsel to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us”. These are the sins which are hindrances in our Christian race. They arrest us or ensnare us or easily beset us. When they arrest us, they make it impossible for to run the race effectively; we are made to stand still and rotate on the same spot. When they ensnare usthey trap us and we cannot make any remarkable movement in our journey to heaven; we only make short shifts forward and backward and this situation does not allow us to make any remarkable distance towards heaven. When they beset usthey overwhelm us or harass us or trouble us or torment us; we do have peace of mind because of the results of the sins we have committed; in this condition, they startle or disconcert or unsettle or frighten or imprison or disorganize us.
We are counseled to avoid all things that corrupt our hearts, our minds, our spirits, our souls, and our bodies. We are advised to throw away from us anything that diminishes or lessens our true love for God. We are to castoff and abandon everything that makes us lose focus on our Lord Jesus. We are told to run away from anything thing that defiles us. We are reminded that it is important for us not to have anything to do with those things that make us not to conform to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ – we should reject anything that would makes us not to be like Jesus. We are advised very seriously to completely erase every sin that would cancel our names from the Book of Life. We are warned to remove entirely from us those things that make us love the pleasures of this world rather than the things of heaven. All these and many more are the weights we must throw far away from us if want to truly become the sons and daughters of God, and if we want to win the kingdom race. These are the things we must do.
Let us take our Lord Jesus Christ for our perfect example who was also tempted with all sins but did not commit even a single sin (Heb. 4:15). Let us remove our carnal minds and replace them with spiritual minds.
CHALLENGES
- Take good time to examine yourself if you are you addicted to any sin.
- If so, take necessary step to stop them.
PRAYERS
- Pray for the power to overcome sin.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
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ESOCS Devotional 25 December 2022
