Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that ...

... clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.

It’s not somebody else’s race that we are being asked to run—it’s our own race, the one that has been set before US. Likewise the weight we need to throw off is our own weight, the sin is our own sin. Thank God that our own cloud of witnesses stands alongside us and around us to cheer us on. We know the sound of their voices, and we breathe in their encouragement like a powerful mist. Run, run, they say! You can do it, I know you can!