Verse of the Day: Hebrews 10:35-36 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
Today’s verses are a reminder that we must not be discouraged by the things we see unfolding around us (whether in our personal lives or around the world). The writer of Hebrews is encouraging his brothers and sister to stand fast in their faith. He reminded them of all they had suffered after choosing to follow the Lord. He also reminded them of how they stood by him as he served them, and the Lord, even in persecution. The fact of the matter is that following Jesus will always involve self-denial, taking up our cross daily, and enduring mocking and persecution amongst family, friends, co-workers, and unbelievers in general. Some Christians, depending on where they live, may also suffer martyrdom for the cause of Christ. However, we are reminded today that we are to endure through all that is allowed and not cast away our “boldness” (the word used in these verses is “confidence”). In other words, we must stand fast in our faith and never back down when we face persecution for what we believe. We are to continue boldly in prayer and service to our God, even when discouragements comes (and they will). There are so many circumstances that the devils want to use to discourage us, but God will use them to build our faith, and our patience, as we wait for the promise of His coming to be fulfilled (Hag 2:6; 1 Pet 1:6; 5:10); for with His coming will also come our heavenly rewards (Matt 16:27; 1 Cor 3:8; Rev 22:12). In the next couple of verses (36-37) the writer reminds the readers of the promise made, that God will return, and His return will be soon. Therefore we must live by faith, and not back down, for a lack of faith in following, and serving, God is unpleasing to Him; for we know that without faith we cannot please Him (Heb 11:6). For the Greeks it was a disgraceful thing to lose or put down their shield during battle (punishable by death). So it is with us, as followers of Jesus; to put down our shield of faith is to say that we do not trust God to get us through those times of discouragement. We are to move forward, in boldness, holding up our shield of faith, knowing that only by faith can we be pleasing to God. The shield of times past we designed as such that an army could lock shields side by side and march forward. What a wonderful picture of what we, as soldiers in God’s army, should be doing. Encouraging each other, picking each other up, and marching together for a common cause, the spreading of the Gospel and honoring the Lord with our lives (Heb 10:19-25). Whatever we may be going through today, let us boldly go before the throne of grace and ask for help we need (Heb 4:16), knowing that whatever we endure will be rewarded when we stand before the Lord (2 Cor 5:10). Even if His coming is delayed, we know that to be absent from this body is to be present with Him (2 Cor 5:6-8). Either way, we win. For in Christ, we are already victorious (John 16:33).
Life can certainly be discouraging. Without Jesus life truly is hopeless because all we have to look forward to is eternal condemnation. However, that does not have to be the case. We can choose to have hope by choosing to call upon Jesus. God gave us His Son, who died for each of us (John 3:16), and now wants us to trust Him for eternal life (Rom 6:23). Trust Him, repent, confess you sins, call upon Him by faith, and have the hope that you will need to deal with life’s discouragements, knowing that your final destination will be eternity with God (Rom 10:13).
No comments:
Post a Comment