"Weights"

 When the travel of the journey,

Makes you long for restful peace,

And your mind and body tell you,

That you really need release,

From all your heavy burdens,

And the weights that weigh you down,

And you think about it often,

When that old devil comes around.

‘Cause he tries to tell you something,

That clearly is a lie,

And it’s that all your burdens,

Should stay with you till you die.

But, see, that’s just like sayin’,

That this old pony that I ride,

Must suffer when I ride him,

‘Cause he’s guilty, dern his hide,

Of often misbehavin’,

When he was just a colt,

And even tried to buck me off,

Or from some object bolt.

And now that he’s a broke horse,

Should be punished often still,

Because of what he once did,

When the saddle I would fill.

But no one who is thinking right,

Would ever think that way,

Or let something that punitive,

Control us or hold sway.

Yet often condemnation,

Will dog the best of us,

And weight us to exhaustion,

So lighten it we must.

So what is the solution,

When the weights all weigh us down,

We must look to Jesus,

His presence can be found.

He bore the weights to Calvary,

So we could then run free,

And Lord knows by His Spirit,

That’s how it ought to be.

The journey we are traveling,

We continue everyday,

Just keep our eyes on Jesus,

And run the race His way.

“…let us strip off every weight that slows us down…” (Hebrews 12:1, NLT)

The Christian life is a race that is run successfully by learning endurance. It’s not a sprint or a fifty-yard dash. It’s more like a marathon. The writer of Hebrews gives sage advice about the race. He says that we must rid ourselves of every weight that slows us, and keep our eyes on Jesus who initiates and perfects our faith. One of the greatest weights we face is the old accusing burden of condemnation. Godly sorrow over our past sins is appropriate and helps us to leave them behind. But the burden of condemnation makes us feel guilty, ashamed, and hopeless. Paul wrote that there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Drop that weight and look to Jesus. You will run well if you do.

Lord, help us to rid ourselves of condemnation, in Jesus’ name.

Photograph by Stephanie Roundy, stephanieroundy.smugmug.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Stephanie, and God blessyou.