Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…

It has been said that whenever we see a ”Therefore” in the Bible, we should look back and see what it’s ‘there for’! The purpose of reading about the heroes of faith who finished their race, is to spur us on to finish our own. It’s like they populate the stands and are cheering us on, telling us, ‘You can do it.’ They are called ”witnesses” because through their lives they gave witness to their faith. They are not spectators as such. They are not witnesses to what we are doing, but witnesses to us that God can see us through.

In order to run this race perseveringly we have to discard both hindrances and sins. The Message puts it like this:

 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. 

‘In a race all the runners run as fast as they can. Before the race begins, they take off all unnecessary clothing. No one runs a race wearing fine clothes and jewellery. There is nothing wrong with good clothes in themselves, but it is wrong to run a race in them! Such clothes will hinder the runner.

In the same way, there are many things in our Christian lives which are not wrong in themselves, but which hinder us in our spiritual race. We must throw off everything that hinders in order to run more quickly…We all must examine ourselves to see if there are any such hindrances in our lives. And we must remember as we do so that what is a hindrance in one person’s life may not be a hindrance in another’s. Hindrances are not the same for everyone.’ Tom Hale: ‘Applied New Testament Commentary’, p.878.

This is a wise and helpful observation.

Sins, of course, inevitably slow us down. So let us aim to ‘keep short accounts with God’. As soon as we become aware of sin, we should repent immediately. Pull up the weed. It might be small now, but it will grow and entangle your feet.