Weight is defined simply as the heaviness of a person of thing. Of course this is in relation to gravity and the force it exhibits.
I've been thinking a lot about weight at the beginning of this season of Lent; a time we set aside to concentrate on the weight and impact of what Christ did for you and me at Easter. Why did God plan from the beginning of time to send His only Son Jesus to come and die, to hang on a Roman cross? It was to do for us what we are incapable of doing for ourselves.
Weight. I do not think that anyone can truly, fully, come to Christ unless and until they come face to face with the weight of their sin. The older I become the more aware I am of the overwhelming gravity of my own sin. I have come to better understand the words of Paul in my own life: "Through my experience of this principle, I discover that even when I want to do good, evil is ready to sabotage me. Truly, deep within my true identity, I love to do what pleases God. But I discern another power operating in my humanity, waging a war against the moral principals of my conscience and bringing me into captivity as a prisoner to the law of sin" (Romans 7:21-23 The Passion Translation).
Truth be known, all of us can relate. It is the deep, overbearing weight of sin that would push us down with no apparent remedy in sight. We scream out for help, for aid, because we find ourselves unable to handle such pressure. It's like the depiction of Atlas, carrying the weight of an entire world on his shoulders. This is why Paul exclaims, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"
That is, after all, what sin is-death. We, like Paul, should scream out in shear fright and desperation when we see our sin for what it really is and how helpless we are against it.
Who can deliver us from such an overbearing weight? "I thank God-through Jesus Christ our Lord! I like how The Passion Translation phrases the thought here; "I give all my thanks to God, for His mighty power has finally provided a way out through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One!"
An important part of preparing for Easter is understanding and acknowledging the weight and gravity of our sin. Then and only then can we understand and acknowledge the real weight and gravity of what Jesus did for us, for you and me. Selah.
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