Habit Forming

Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us,  Hebrews 12:1  NASB

So easily entangles – I’ve always struggled with this verse.  There are a few reasons (and maybe a few “non-reasons”).  First, it seems so aesthetic.  Get rid of everything that messes you up!  But lots of things mess me up.  Am I supposed to retreat from the world to do this?  Second, while I can see the need to live a righteous life, I have a hard time identifying the sin that so easily entangles.  What is that one thing that traps me so often?  I’m afraid I have a long list.  How do I discover, and correct, that one primal error?

Many Christian commentators weigh in on this verse.  Generally, they focus on human frailty, listing everything that might count as easily entangling.  Here’s an example:

To  lay aside means to put away, to get rid of, or to remove. The phrase “the sin that doth so easily beset us” is with       particular reference to that temptation or sin  which we always fall victim of; those vices or sinful habits which we seem to overlook either because of material benefits, negligence or carefree attitude.  These vices include drunkenness, sexual immorality, lie telling, stealing or such like. Saint Paul is exhorting us to get rid of them for our own good by the grace of God.

For the fact that men are born in sin, the devil takes advantage of this frailty or weakness to hold them in spiritual bondage.  It is therefore required of true Christians who are yearning for salvation in God’s Kingdom fully established to be conscious of the sin or sins that so easily overwhelms them, and to make every effort to overcome such sins by the grace of God

 Paul the Apostle of God further enumerated some of these “besetting sins” in his admonition to the Christians in Colossae thus: “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry…But  now  ye also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.  Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.” – Colossians 3: 5-10. [1]

So, what is the sin that so easily besets us?  As you can see, we often think of this as individualistic.  Yours will be different than mine.  But maybe there’s a broader application here.  You’ll remember that one of the constant themes of Scripture is the counterintuitive “Don’t be afraid” coupled with “Fear the Lord.”  What lies behind this juxtaposition is the fundamental requirement of trust.  Don’t be afraid because you fear the Lord.  In other words, trust in God removes every other kind of fear.  This seems theologically logical, but the command isn’t about logic.  It’s about emotion.  That doesn’t mean it is illogical.  It just means that the SOP of the Bible runs on feelings, not cold logic.  We are driven by emotion, not logic.  The Bible recognizes this.  It’s very Hebraic, not Greek.  If He cares for me and tells me not to be afraid, then what do I have to worry about.  Sin is the insanity of not trusting God.  Biblical anthropomorphisms are not accommodations for feeble humanity.  They are the truthful expressions of the God who feels.  The sin that so easily besets us is really lack of trust – being afraid – all the things that I might fear: rejection, abandonment, disappointment, frustration, failure, etc.   There is indeed a sin that so easily besets us.  Not our individual frailties but the general blasphemy of lack of trust.

Topical Index: sin, fear, trust, Hebrews 12:1

[1] https://www.mountaingks.org/laying-aside-the-sin-that-doth-so-easily-beseth-us/