“LOOKING UNTO JESUS”

“Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us”: The verb of which besetting is the participle form means to surround with hostile intent, to set upon, attack, assault on all sides, to constantly assault with persistence. In the expression besetting sin, the word “besetting” carries the added meaning of chief, principal or primary, a sin to which a particular individual is particularly susceptible. In the life of every saint there is a “besetting sin”, one to which, on account of our constitution and life circumstance, we are peculiarly susceptible and most easily and most frequently fall. Besetting sin ensnares... traps, and can tower like a mountain between a child of God and their Daddy.

There are many besetting sins: Slothfulness is spiritual or emotional apathy, neglecting what God has spoken... spiritual laziness. Worry is habitual refusal to trust God... unbelief by another name. Coveting is to allow one’s desires for the things of this life to override our passion for Godliness... idolatry in its purest form. Pride is an inflated sense of one's personal status or accomplishments, inordinate Self-esteem and Self-reliance breeding dependence on Self rather than God.  Gluttony is over-indulgence... over-consumption, a limitless voracious appetite for something... a loss of Self-control, walking according to the flesh. And the list goes on. We all have besetting sin(s), it’s the sin we hate to love; to think otherwise is to be in Self-denial.

Saints, we all have a death to die, a race to run -- a race requiring patient endurance and steadfast persistence -- and a crown to receive. Therefore let us lay aside... discard, our besetting sins relying in total trust upon Jesus who is the author... originator and dispenser, and finisher... perfecter, of our faith. Jesus is the creator and sustainer and consummator of faith in the hearts of believers, the supreme model of the faith way of life. By His unerring life of faith Jesus made a way to God for those that follow Him, “The firstborn among many brethren.” As “Prince of life” and “The beginning of the creation of God”, Jesus is “The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep”, “The firstborn from among the dead”... the originator of the resurrection. “All things were created through Him and for Him ... and in Him all things consist.” Our trust releases the power out flowing from His resurrection, bringing our faith to maturity with enabling power to overcome our besetting sins. And in this we should rejoice...

“IF WE SAY THAT WE HAVE NO SIN,

WE DECEIVE OURSELVES...”

(Heb. 12:1-2; Acts 3:15; Rev. 3:14; 1 Cor. 15:20; Rom. 8:29; Col. 1:16-18; Phil. 3:10; 1 Jn. 1:8)