In one of my wife’s recent messages to the church, she used this point in an illustration of running the race: “If you are going to run a race, you don’t put a lot of rocks in your pockets.” She went on to explain that to run a race you get the lightest gear on to get to the finish line and win. Coming off that point, I had my own meditations. Sometimes we have a bunch of rocks in our pockets that hinder us in running our race of life in the Lord. There are rocks of past hurts, of seeing inconsistencies in people’s lives who profess to know the Lord. There are rocks of beliefs and teachings that have been passed down to us that are not according to the Word and Spirit of God. There are rocks of personal opinions that are contrary to the working and ways of God. All these things can hinder us, and need to be dealt with. You know, God wants to work in all our lives in a good and mighty way, but He will do it His way. He is God. He is the Boss. If our pockets are full of our way of doing things, we won’t be able to keep up with where God is walking and where He is going. We are all weighed down with our own rocks. God has one Rock. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. If we will empty our pockets of all those rocks we are carrying around with us, and just follow the living Rock that was in the wilderness with the Israelites (1 Corinthians 10:4), then we will be right in step with God. Where God goes, we will be there. Where God is, we will be there. At the end of our life, this is particularly important. To be trusting in the one Rock is the difference between being in hell or being with God in heaven. Rocks of religious tradition and doctrine can cause us to trust in our own efforts and goodness to please God. We might be a “good person” and don’t do “bad things,” but that won’t get us delivered from sin and get us into heaven. Only the sacrificial payment of Jesus on the cross is sufficient to deliver us from sin. Only the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross is what will get us into heaven. By seeing Him, and emptying our pockets of all our goodness and righteousness and holding only to the goodness and righteousness of Jesus Christ, can we have assurance that we are with God now and forever. The house built on this Rock will endure forever. With just Him, by faith in Him, the Living Rock, we can run this race in the power of the Spirit of God and finish the course with joy. The Spirit is the water to refresh us. Empty the rocks out, get a good drink, and let’s run with joy!
Get the Rocks Out of Your Pockets
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