Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1
What is a weight? A weight may not be sin, nor is it necessarily something very bad, but it doubtless can easily entangle us. Anything which keeps us from running well or hinders our progress may be viewed as a weight.
During the nineteenth century there was a man who was greatly used by the Lord. He spent a great deal of time compiling a Hebrew dictionary. Upon finishing the work he sent it to his friends for review. All of them praised the work highly. Yet this brother burned his manuscript. For, when he was compiling it, said the would-be scholar, he felt his love for the Lord as well as his love for souls had been greatly diminished. So that for him, to proofread and to print it would subsequently occupy even more of his time and energy. By taking the action he did take, this believer was delivered from a weight.
