Lay Aside

"1Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also (A)lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us (B)run with (C)endurance the race that is set before us"
~ Heb. 12:1

"31Lay aside all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."
~ Ephesians 4:31

Lay aside...in other versions of these verses, the phrases is throw off, cast away, put away, get rid of

Get rid of every weight, every encumbrance, every sin....all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander....every form of malice.

This came from a simple sermon preached in a church I visited for the first time yesterday. And it struck me. I have things I need to lay aside. I could say I didn't realize that they were there, but I did. I could say I didn't intend to hold them, but I did. Why was I waiting to lay them aside? Waiting for all of life to right itself, waiting for the pain to abate, waiting for apologies that will never come?

All of the above.

I remember reading that being bitter is like drinking poison and then waiting for the other person to die. I'm not going to drink. 2000 years ago, the sinless, perfect, holy Son of God laid aside His glory and died a horrible death on a cross for the world...knowing that many would never realize the immensity of what He had done, and that those of us who were grateful would still slip and fall. He did it anyway. He laid aside....for someone like me.

So I lay aside....every thought, every hurt, every word, every eye roll and email and discussion....the ones that have taken place and then ones that I will never hear but know will take place. "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." As I desire God to forgive me....so I forgive. As I gratefully accept God's blotting out of the pain I inflicted upon His Son, so I blot out the pain that would so easily entangle me and so easily weigh me down.

As I am free....so are you.

"And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you."
Ephesians 4:32