Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming.

Colossians 3:3

What kinds of things get in the way of my daily walk as a Christian? This morning I heard Chuck Swindoll focus on a popular book from the book of Hebrews –

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith…”

Hebrews 12:1-2(a)

Yesterday, I mentioned briefly that this time of year is often one when we take a personal inventory. We think of resolutions and positive things we want to do, but first, we often need to take a hard look at what is holding us back.

In Hebrews we are encouraged to “strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.” Not everything that slows us down is necessarily a sin, but there are things that are not good for us, right?

But, on the other side of the equation, sin is real and sin does trip us up. Paul tells us we must put those things to death and provides us with a short, non-exhaustive list – “Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and covetousness” are just examples of what must be put to death.

So, as we start the year, let’s take a look at our lives and ask God to reveal what might be weighing us down right now.