Put Aside any Encumbering Weight and Entangling Sin and Run the Race with Endurance

The Christian life is a race, and every saved Christian must run the race with endurance to win a prize; we all need to put aside any encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and we need to ask the Lord to direct our heart into the love of God and into the endurance of Christ.

Amen, Lord, thank You for bringing us into this race in the Christian life! You are our way! We exercise our spirit to run the race today! Amen, Lord, we want to run the race with endurance by looking away unto Jesus! We look away from everything and everyone around us unto You to be infused with You and run the race with endurance to receive the prize! Amen!

We are river crossers, those who cross the river to go on with the Lord until we arrive into glory, being made the same as He is. We are people of faith; we are the family of faith.

In Hebrews 11 we see the many patterns of faith, men and women of faith who went before us. And when we read Hebrews 12, we see that we are also running the race, and this running is by faith.

In Hebrews 10:38 the Lord says, But my righteous One shall live by faith; and if He shrinks back, My soul does not delight in Him. Thank the Lord that we are not those who shrink back to ruin but those who have faith to the gaining of the soul.

We as believers in Christ are the righteous ones, and we live by faith. We need to live by faith. What is faith? Faith is the substantiation of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

For us to substantiate God, for us to see God and the spiritual reality of what God is and is doing, we need to exercise our spirit of faith.

Many have gone before us and ran the race, including Abel, Enosh, Abraham, Moses, and the prophets; they all lived a life of faith in order to please God.

These all, having obtained a good testimony through their faith, did not yet obtain the promise, because God has provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect. Wow!

Therefore, let us also, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, put away any encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and run with endurance the race set before us, looking away unto Jesus!

Amen, we run with endurance the race set before us by looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God.

Hallelujah, we believers in Christ are running the race, continuing the race that so many ran before us, and they are perfected now in us! Amen!

The Christian Life is a Race: Every Saved Christian must Run with Endurance the Race to Win the Prize

According to Hebrews 12:1 and 1 Corinthians 9:24, the Christian life is a race, and every saved Christian must run with endurance the race set before him so that he may win the prize.

When we were saved, when the Lord came into us through regeneration, we were brought into the Christian race.

What is this race? What is the race which we Christians must run? If we say that the race is perfection or glorification, this is incorrect, for this is the goal of the race.

If we say the race is being sonized through sanctification so that we may be brought into glory, this is incorrect, for this is the goal of the race. The race is not glorification, nor is it the inward working of the law of life, for that is the process of the race.

The race we run today is not even the losing of the soul, for that is the way to run the race.

In John 14:6 the Lord Jesus said, I am the way and the reality and the life. Christ is the way; the race is a way, a course. Because Christ is the way, He is also the race.

The race we are running is Christ, and our way is our race. These are not two things: we don’t run the race and then we walk on the way. Rather, the way we are walking is the race we are running.

Christ who is the way is also the race. In this universe, God has a unique way; He has prepared a unique way that we must take.

This way is endless – it has no beginning nor ending, for it reaches from eternity to eternity. From Genesis chapter 1 to Revelation chapter 22, there is only one way, one race: Christ.

Our Christian life is not a “stroll in the park”; rather, the Christian life is a race, and every saved Christian must run with endurance the race set before him in order to win the prize.

The prize we receive is not salvation in a common sense but a reward in a special sense (Eph. 2:8-9; 1 Cor. 3:14-15). The apostle Paul was one who ran the race and won the prize (see 1 Cor. 9:26-27; Phil. 3:13-14; 2 Tim. 4:7-8).

He said he was running the race, and he said he even buffeted his body for he did not want to be in a situation where he would become disapproved.

In Philippians, an epistle he wrote toward the end of his life, he said he still did not arrive, he didn’t receive the prize, but he was still running.

In Hebrews 12:1 he charged us to run with endurance the race which is set before us. It was only at the end of his life, in 2 Timothy 4, that he said, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith (2 Tim. 4:7).

He began running the course of the heavenly race after he was taken possession of by the Lord. He continually ran so that he might finish it, and at the end, he could triumphantly proclaim, I have finished the course.

He was assured that he will receive from the Lord a reward – the crown of righteousness. We need to be encouraged today to run the race.

Day by day we need to pursue Christ, seek to gain Him, and always reach forward, stretch forth, and not be bound by anything around us or within us but just run with endurance the race set before us.

We should not merely walk but run; we need to put aside any problem, any issue, anything that holds us back, and just run with endurance the race set before us.

On the one hand, we have received the Lord’s salvation by faith in Him; salvation is ours, it is settled, and we are forever saved.

However, we want to receive the prize, the incorruptible crown, the reward, which the Lord will give to those who finish the course victoriously. Whether we will be rewarded by the Lord at the end of our Christian race depends on how we run the race.

May we open to the Lord in regards to this and tell Him,

Lord Jesus, we want to run with endurance the race set before us! Hallelujah, we believers in Christ are running the race in our Christian life, and Christ Himself is our way! Amen, Lord, we take You as our way. You are the way, the reality, and the life. We come to You and we take You as our race today. We want to run with endurance the race set before us. We do not look to the left or to the right; we simply look away unto Jesus to run the race! We stretch forth toward the Christ before. We forget the things which are behind and run continually. Grant us the grace to run the race. May our running not stop or be in vain. May we keep running the race until we receive the prize! Oh Lord, may we not just be walking on the way but even more be those running the race! Hallelujah, our Christian life is a race, and we as saved Christians must run the race to win the prize! Amen, Lord, we want to run the race in such a way that we may obtain the reward, the prize, an incorruptible crown!

Put Aside any Encumbering Weight and the Entangling Sin and Run with Endurance

When running the race, whenever someone runs a race, what matters is not what’s happening around them but that they finish in the shortest time as possible.

If you watch the Olympics, you will realise that none of the runners have a suit on or their phone; they put aside anything that would hinder them from running.

An encumbrance is a weight, a burden, or an impediment; when we run the Christian race, we strip off every unnecessary weight, every encumbering burden, so that nothing would impede us from winning the race. We do not look to the left or to the right.

We do not look backwards to see who is catching up. Rather, we look away unto Jesus! Amen! We keep our eyes focused on Jesus, looking away unto Jesus and pursuing Him.

We pursue Christ and His interests here on the earth; this is to run the race.

For example, if we look at the case of Abraham and Lot, both were pursuing God, and both were righteous men; for a while, they travelled together, but then, Lot took a different way.

Abraham lived the life of the altar and the tent, and therefore had an ear to hear Jehovah’s word, honour His word, and have His appearing. Lot, on the other hand, was also a righteous man, yet he was encumbered because he lived in the wrong place.

He ended up living in the city of Sodom and, as such, Lot was oppressed by that environment. How could he run the race in such circumstances?

This illustrates our Christian life and our going on with the Lord. We need to consider many practical matters related to our Christian life, our church life, and our human life before Him.

To run with endurance the race set before us doesn’t mean that we go live in the mountains or in a cave so that we are not encumbered by the modern things of the current world; rather, in the midst of all these things, we run the race.

For example, owning our house may be something we aspire to, but when we do this, we realise how many problems arise and how encumbering this is.

We may need a car, and when we get one, we realise how much it can encumber us and slow us down in the race, especially when it needs to be fixed or when it has some problems.

If we believers in Christ want to run the course of the race, we need to put off every encumbrance and the entangling sin (Heb. 12:1).

Sin entangles us without us even noticing it, and we discover ourselves in sin.

Encumbrances are around us, and even practical matters and material possessions which are necessary can be unnecessary weights in our running the race.

We need to learn to strip off every unnecessary weight, every encumbering burden, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and run with endurance the race set before us.

We may not commit big sins, but there may be some things that we do which entangle us and frustrate us from running the race. Oh Lord Jesus!

We may have a job, and we may be able to get a promotion; we may think it is time for a well-deserved raise, but then we realise that this will require more time and energy from us, and we will be less available for the Lord’s interest and for the church life. Oh Lord!

The Lord said that we should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the other things which we need will be added to us (Matt. 6:33).

We need to bring all the matters in our daily life to the Lord. We need to consider before Him concerning the way we spend our time, money, energy, and attention.

When we choose what job to take, we need to check with the Lord. When we buy something, when we are about to buy something and we think we really need that thing, but it will get us into debt, we need to bring it to the Lord.

In particular, in Hebrews 12 the unique entangling sin was the willful sin of forsaking the assembling together with the saints, of giving up the new covenant way in God’s economy, and of going back to Judaism (10:25-26).

The entangling sin can be different for each one of us. We need to open to the Lord about this in prayer so that He may shine on any encumbering burden and entangling sin.

Both the encumbering weight and the entangling sin frustrate us, believers in Christ, and restrain us from running the heavenly race in the new covenant way of following Jesus.

May nothing restrain us from running the race. We need to run the race with endurance, asking the Lord to direct our hearts into the love of God and into the endurance of Christ (2 Thes. 3:5).

Our running has to be with endurance; we don’t have endurance in ourselves, but we can ask the Lord to direct our heart in the endurance of Christ. Endurance is our need.

In Revelation 3:10 the church in Philadelphia kept the word of the Lord’s endurance; we need to be such ones today.

We need to have love toward God, issuing from the love of God that has been poured out in our hearts (1 John 4:19; Rom. 5:5).

The endurance is to endure with the endurance of Christ that we have enjoyed and experienced (Rev. 1:9).

Satan uses many tactics to wear out the saints. He does it through things in the physical realm, through health problems, sickness, loss, and discouragement.

He wants to wear us out. He uses all things in the world today and in our personal universe to wear us out. Sometimes we may even labour for the Lord with one person, and after two years, not much is gained.

We need to stand against the enemy’s wearing-out tactics and experience the endurance in Christ to run the heavenly race to the end!

Lord Jesus, we put aside and strip off every unnecessary weight and every encumbering burden to run the race with endurance! Amen, Lord, shine on us. Shine on our situation, on the things we have, and on the things we are involved with. Expose any encumbering burden and any entangling sin. We want to put aside any encumbering burden and any entangling sin so that we may run the race by looking away unto Jesus! Amen, Lord, we look away unto You from anything else. Infuse us with the energy and ability to run the race! Direct our heart, Lord, into the love of God and into the endurance of Christ. May our heart be directed into the endurance of Christ so that we may enjoy and experience this endurance in our daily life. Amen, Lord, be our endurance to run the race today! We turn our heart to You and we enjoy You as love being poured out into our heart! We love You, Lord, we turn to You, we look away unto You, and we run the race with endurance, paying no attention to any encumbering burden or entangling sin!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brother Ray Mulligan on this topic, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 151, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (part 3 – 2025 Summer Training), week 32, Looking Away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of Our Faith – day 2.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Look away from all around—Hallelujah, / Look away from all the strife and din; / Look away where peace is found—Hallelujah, / Look away from everything to Him. / Look away from fickle soul—Hallelujah, / Look away from failing self within; / Look away toward the goal—Hallelujah, / Look away from everything to Him. (Hymns #1206 stanzas 2-3)
  – There’s a way before us and a race to run— / Christ our way, Christ our way! / Turn away from everything distracting us— / Run the race, run the race! / From the altar through the Holy Place, / Through the veil into our God, / To the law of life within the ark; / ’Tis the goal, our great reward. (Hymns #1207 stanza 1)
  – Run the straight race through God’s good grace, / Lift up thine eyes, and seek His face; / Life with its way before us lies, / Christ is the path, and Christ the prize. / Cast care aside, lean on thy Guide; / His boundless mercy will provide; / Trust, and thy trusting soul shall prove / Christ is its life, and Christ its love. (Hymns #872 stanzas 2-3)