Last updated on December 19, 2024
Today’s reading comes from Hebrews 10-13.
The writer of Hebrews has made great efforts to remind his Jewish readers of their story, and how Jesus’ life, death and resurrection fulfilled this story. He now wants to give them encouragement and instruction on how to live this lives rooted in this new reality. He says…
So, friends, we can now – without hesitation – walk right up to God, into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice , acting as our priest before God. The “curtain” into God’s presence is his body. So let’s do it – full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:19-25, The Message
He then reminds me that the life they have been called, the life of following God, is a life that is lived by faith. He reminds them that all of the heroes of their story were ordinary men and women who followed by God even when they didn’t know how it would turn out. That’s what faith is. It is “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1, NIV).
In light of these reminders, he gives one final challenge, and it’s such a strong one…
Do you see what this means – all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running – and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sin. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed – that exhilarating finish in and with God – he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
Hebrews 12:1-3, The Message
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