Wherefore seeing (since) we also are compassed (surrounded by)  about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset (ensnare) us, and let us run with patience (perseverance) the race that is set before us – Hebrews 12-1. 

Weights are something you use to strengthen your muscles; according to what type of weight you use, it can be either helpful or harmful. Too much of anything can get you off balance and cause an adverse reaction. Weight is a heaviness that will keep a person from moving forward, naturally or spiritually. Spiritually speaking, Christians must be careful who and what they allow in their lives that would become a weight. Too many times, Christians look at the big “No, No, such as lying, stealing, fornication, and adultery, not realizing sin is not categorized by God; anything that rebels against the written Word of God is a sin.

If we become too busy to pray, whatever we do can become a weight. Spending more time talking on the phone or watching television and on the computer rather than reading and studying the Word of God for twenty or thirty minutes will become a weight.  Some Christians spend more time on what they wear to work or church than they will take to pray and read the Bible.

Weights are not a sin but can become a sin if we stay in that mindset. Weights can hinder our spiritual growth; this is why the Bible has instructed Christians to set their affections on things above and not the things on the earth because if we don’t, we will allow weights to become a part of our lives.

Satan influences Christians with actions that appear harmless, just as he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden. There’s nothing wrong with watching TV programs, but what type of program are you watching, and are you more faithful to watching the program than praying?

As Christians, we need to get back to basics, if we pray like we should as Christians, our spirit will let us know when we’re going against the will of God.  Our spirit is either going to be in tune with God’s spirit or Satan and if it’s in tune with Satan, he’s not going to let you know you’re against the Word of God; he will influence you that there is nothing wrong with what you’re doing.

He will tell you other Christians are doing it or it doesn’t take all that to be a Christian.  God has written instructions He wants us to adhere to; He hasn’t instructed us to do something He has not enabled us to do. Read and study the Bible, and pray to be sensitive to the Spirit of God and His leading. Weights come in different forms, shapes, and sizes; they must be dealt with to have a close relationship with the Father and be a citizen of heaven.

Christians can’t serve God and serve Satan too; whoever you’re serving, you will be their servant whether to God or Satan (Know ye not, that to whom ye yield your selves servants to obey, his servant ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness – Romans 6:16). 

If we continue to allow weights to flourish in our behavior, eventually, we will begin to have a carnal mind. A carnal mind is enmity against God (For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be – Roman 8:6-7). Enmity is a bitter attitude or feelings of an enemy or enemies, hostility. If this is in us towards God, we have become His enemy, not His people. This kind of attitude is manifested in those who hate God, those who say there is no God! What are you saying to God in your behavior?

The majority of professing Christians live the same lifestyle as nonbelievers; they look, go, and listen to the same thing. The same people who are clubbing are the same, singing in the choir or ministering in different positions in the church. God’s Spirit is not moving in the sanctuary; people are leaving the church the same way they came in because of the weight and sin in the church.

Zion, wake up! When Jesus returns, judgment will begin at the church (For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begins at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God – 1st Peter 4:17).