We are being tallied. Watched, observed, photographed, and tracked.
The world knows what we’re about every hour of every day.
We can’t say, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”
What happens is that it’s splashed over social media, the news services pick it up, and everyone knows.
Look at how Hebrews 12:1 says it:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
Who are our witnesses? Those saints who have gone on before us, setting a bar that we must desire to attain?
Perhaps the angels, the heavenly throng, the cherubim that surround the throne?
How about the co-worker who watches how we react to off-color jokes? The rider beside us on the subway when an elderly person boards the car and searches for a seat? Our children, our spouse, the neighbor next door?
They are all watching, even when we think what we do is “in Vegas.”
This verse gives us three ways to put our Christian witness in the spotlight in the best way possible.
Spotlight No. 1:
“Let us also lay aside every weight.”
Our weights are the baggage that slows our footsteps. The down payment for the new house that’s become more important than giving to the church building fund. The weekend trips that keep us out of Sunday school. Watching the Tonight show instead of reading the Word.
Spotlight No. 2:
“Let us also lay aside … the sin that clings to us.”
That website … the emails to our coworker … the secret stash of booze in the basement. We think no one knows. Aren’t we being fooled?
Spotlight No. 3:
“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
Bible reading. Prayer time. Showing up for services. Grasping the bar set so long ago by the apostles of the Bible and refusing to lower it so we can be more “inclusive” to those who ask us to water down the gospel.
We are being tracked. One day, the Book of Life will open before us, and it’s vital we find our name inside.
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