True Beauty

by Porter Johnson

In December of 2021, I went on a backpacking trip to Big Bend National Park in Texas. My best friend and I were celebrating college graduation. When we planned the trip, I didn’t know that the park has an incredible view of the stars at night. Big Bend is one of the top five darkest places in the United States. There is virtually no light pollution, so you can see every star in the sky. I thought I had seen the beauty of the stars growing up in the mountains of Northwest Georgia, but I had no idea their true beauty until I saw them in Big Bend. The point of this story is that I could not see the true beauty of the stars until all light pollution was removed from my sight. Similarly, we cannot see the full beauty of God until all hindrances and sins are removed from our hearts.

“Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2, CSB).

There is a significant nuance in this passage from the book of Hebrews. An exhortation to lay things aside in order to run after God is found. The author encourages readers to “lay aside every hindrance and sin that so easily ensnares us.” It is easy to see that sins will hold the Christian back from seeing God. However, sins are not the only thing that keeps Christians from running with endurance. Hebrews 12:1-2 specifies that Christians must lay aside both hindrances and sins. According to this passage, there are hindrances that are not sins. All sins are hindrances, but not all hindrances are sins. Therefore, God’s people must not be content with asking the question, “Is this a sin?” Christians must move forward to the question, “Does this help me run after God?”

When we conclude that an action, relationship, substance, topic of conversation, or anything else does not help us run the race of life, the biblical command is to lay

it aside. Paul wrote a parallel statement in 1 Corinthians 10:23, “‘Everything is permissible,’ but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible,’ but not everything builds up.” The heartbeat of a born-again Christian is to get closer to God. Nearness to God is best accomplished when all hindrances and sins have been cast aside. Dear Christian, lay aside sins and lay aside all other hindrances as well. Then you will be able to run with endurance the race that is set out for you, and you will clearly gaze upon the beauty of the Savior.

About The Author Porter Johnson is a Shorter University Graduate, a current student at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and College Pastor at Sherwood Rome.