DAILY BREAD READING (Published Daily by Our Daily Bread Ministries)
SEPTEMBER 4, 2026
READ: Hebrews 12 (Focus vs. 1-7; 10 & 14)
MEMORY VERSE
Let us throw off everything that hinders
and the sin that so easily entangles. Hebrews 12:1
BACKGROUND
My smartphone occasionally reminds me I’m not good at digital housekeeping. “Junk files are taking up space,” the message reads. “Delete 675MB of junk files.”
Now, I dislike being nagged by my phone. But if I clean out those files, I’ve got more space for things that really matter.
Then, when I’m at my daughter’s swim meet, for instance, I’ll have enough digital storage to actually shoot a video of her winning a race instead of unexpectedly realizing that those pesky “junk files” have sabotaged my ability to capture the moment.
Junk files on our phones are easy to delete. But what about the “junk files” in our souls? Like our phones, our souls can be clogged with stuff that keeps us from flourishing spiritually.
The author of Hebrews understood this reality, encouraging us to pay close attention to anything that trips us up in our walk with God. “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,” he writes, followed by this challenge: “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).
What weighs you down? What trips you up? Hebrews encourages us to fix “our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (v. 2), who alone can help us identify and delete the “junk files” that hinder our abundant life in Him.
Adam R. Holz
INSIGHT
The original audience of the letter to the Hebrews were Jewish believers in Jesus who may have considered reverting back to Judaism or were straying toward false teachings (see 2:1-4; 3:1-4).
Many scholars believe the book was written before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in ad 70 because it includes references to Jewish ceremonies and sacrifices. Hebrews encourages believers to endure and hold fast to Christ (2:1-4; 3:7–4:13; 5:11–6:2).
In chapter 11, known as the “Hall of Faith,” the author commends the many men and women of the Bible who lived by faith and sometimes died because of it.
Therefore, because of their witness and example, believers in Jesus are prompted to “throw off everything that hinders” us—including sin—and “run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (12:1).
Alyson Kieda
APPLICATION
What most trips you up in your relationship with God? How does your faith help you identify and throw off sinful influences?
PR’s (Pastor Richard) RE-EMPHASIS (From Today’s Post)
“Jesus, the “pioneer and perfecter of faith”, alone can help us identify and delete the “junk files” that hinder our abundant life in Him.
PR’s TAKE
“Sin is awful. God is gracious.” ODB Post
“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may [obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.
Therefore, I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus, I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
PRAYER
“Dear Father, please give me the wisdom and courage to “throw off . . . the sin that so easily entangles” me.”
TODAY’S HYMN/WORSHIP/PRAISE/GOSPEL SONG
“POWER IN THE BLOOD”
Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.
Would you o’er evil a victory win?
There’s wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power, wonder-working power
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is power, power, wonder-working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb.
Would you be free from your passion and pride?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.
Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide.
There’s wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power, wonder-working power…
There is power, power, wonder-working power…
Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.
Sin-stains are lost in its life-giving flow;
there’s wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power, wonder-working power…
There is power, power, wonder-working power…
Would you do service for Jesus your King?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.
Would you live daily His praises to sing?
There’s wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power, wonder-working power
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is power, power, wonder-working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb.
