Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us. (Hebrews 12:1)

A former commander of the Imperial Russian Navy said that he went to London during World War I...[to learn] how to fly one of three dirigibles that Russia had bought from England. But first he had to learn to fly a balloon. He recalled getting into the gondola and seeing all four sides covered with sandbags. To begin the ascent, sand was released.... As more sand went over the side, the craft ascended higher.

The man then appiled this to our relationship with the Lord: "Now that I'm a Christian, I understand that when God begins to clean up my heart, I get closer and closer to Him."