I have been reading the book of Hebrews as part of my devotional discipline the past week or so. I try to read and meditate over one chapter a day. What a tremendous manual of instruction, inspiration, and encouragement the Spirit has provided us through the pen of Hebrews’ author!
This week, Lord Holy Spirit ministered to me powerfully from Hebrews 10:19-25. Please take a moment to read that paragraph of Scripture. Keep your Bible open alongside this article as you read.
Hebrews 10:19-21 reminds me that through nothing attractive on my part, through no goodness of my own, but solely through the grace and mercy and love of God in Christ Jesus I have been offered intimate access to the Father. In the wonderful hymn, “Man of Sorrows, What a Name,” Philip Bliss wrote:
Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned He stood,
sealed my pardon with His blood; Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Guilty, vile, and helpless we, spotless Lamb of God was He;
full atonement, can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Hebrews 10:22-25 reminds me that God has not only given me eternal life but also a prescription for the development of my new life here while I strain for eternity and Home. I find four admonitions in these verses that are essential to my growth and development. Real contentment and joy are found only here.
1. Get close to God every day – “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith (v 22).”
I am so thankful that when I came to Christ Jesus God did not say, “Okay, that’s good enough. Now hang in there until you get Home. I’ll see you then.” To be saved does not only mean we will go to heaven when we die. To be saved means I have been found and brought back to a place of belonging and worth and celebration today. God longs for me to begin and continue to know Him more intimately every day. He wants me to draw near to Him with confidence and joy – and that is where my deepest longings are met.
2. Hold on tight to hope – “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering (v 23).”
Lately, for me, the biggest threat to my hope has been my schedule. Almost every morning, as I leave the house for work, I wrestle with feelings of failure – missed opportunities to cherish my wife, to laugh with my children, to finish the floor. Every evening, as I head home, I struggle with a sense of failure – so many calls left unmade, so many people not seen, so many tasks undone, so much study untouched. God wants me to focus on right priorities and trust Him to make hope reality in my day-to-day experiences.
3. Provoke the saints – “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works (v 24).”
The Master’s aim is for you and me to stimulate Christ’s activity in and through each other’s lives. As parents, Donna and I will not be satisfied, nor considered good parents, if our children never grow. So, we try to nurture and guide our children to make choices that will lead them to be productive participants in life. As followers of Jesus Christ, we should have the same devotion to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
4. Live in the plural – “Meet together … encouraging one another (v 25).”
John Wesley said, “There is simply no such thing as a solitary Christian.” We need each other. God has designed us so that the primary proving ground of our growth in Christlikeness is in the context of open, honest, bold relationships and fellowship. The New Testament calls believers in Jesus “saints.” And that word is never used in the singular – it is always saints, never saint. We must learn to live in the plural!
By the way, Hebrews 10:25 closes with this: “… all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Paul told Timothy: “In the last days there will come times of great difficulty” (2 Timothy 3:1). Probably most of us could attest to increasing difficulties and discouragements. This makes our meeting together all the more urgent. Don’t let the enemy or the world or the flesh confuse you or lead you to believe you do not have time to meet with the body of Christ. The truth is we cannot afford not to live in the plural!
To the ends of the earth until the end of time!
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