Before the advances of weight equipment in recent years, during practices, athletes would place bags of sand around their ankles and sometimes their wrists to build up endurance and stamina. When it was game or race time, these bags were laid aside. Today equipment and jerseys for game competitions are lighter, so to reduce the weight placed on the athlete, in order to be able to allow the body to focus one’s strength and endurance on the competition rather than on one’s body.
Hebrews 12:1-2 reminds us that our Christian life is like a race, “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. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”
From Hebrews 11, we learn about belie ...
