“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 their 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 habitual over-indulgence,
over-consumption of anything, a loss of control to Self. *Fear: an absence of
God’s perfect love, fearing anything more then we fear God. 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, and a crown to receive, all of which
will require great faith. Therefore let us strip off and throw aside...
discard, our besetting sins and every unnecessary encumbrance, “looking unto
Jesus.” Faith manifested itself in Jesus
– the supreme model of the faith way of life -- who leads us in faith and in
whom faith finds its perfect embodiment. It is in this sense that Jesus is “the
author and finisher of the Faith”: He modeled perfect faith – absolute dependence
upon and implicit trust in God -- in His life and death, leading us in our walk
of faith by example.
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 dependence
upon and trust in God releases the power out flowing from His resurrection, 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.
12:1-4; Acts 3:15; Rev. 3:14; 1 Cor. 15:20; Rom. 8:29; 1 Jn. 4:18; Matt. 10:28;
Col. 1:16-18; Phil. 3:10; 1 Jn. 1:8)
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