My Daily Pause

Hebrews spent a lot of time on selling Christ as superior to the old Law and as deserving of our full service. Here are the eleven items that support living a Christian life. While we don’t know who the writer of Hebrews is, we can see from other books in the Bible that an exhortation of “Let us” was usually given as a command with apostolic authority. Practicing these things not only makes us obedient but, will help make the lifestyle easy and a joy to participate in …

…so let us:

• Fear ( Hebrews 4:1) – The gospel message doesn’t benefit us if we do not have faith or continue to grow our faith
• Labor (Hebrews 4:11) – We must be careful to remain obedient and strive to stay on the narrow path. Failure means we fall from grace. (Philippians 2:12, Revelation 20:12)
• Hold fast our confession (Hebrews 4:14) – Our name is mentioned to the Father when we confess Christ! (Matthew 10:32-33) Although not very popular today, it is our responsibility to acknowledge Jesus on an ongoing basis.
• Confidently draw near to the throne (Hebrews 4:16) – Christ, who has our nature and know our trials, is sitting there at God’s right hand. He looks forward to our approach (Matthew 25:23)
• Go on to perfection (Hebrews 6:1 KJV) or leave the elementary doctrine (Hebrews 6:1 ESV) – We are to grow beyond the basics and really get to know the word of God. After we understand the basics that qualify us for salvation, we are to go on to try for perfection like God is perfect (Matthew 5:48)
• Draw near (Hebrews 10:22) – We never really get close to God until we have obeyed him, purified our hearts and have a live and growing faith. (James 2:24)
• Hold fast our confession of hope (Hebrews 10:23) – See the Hebrews 4:14 above. Our hope is based on God’s promise of eternal life for those that love and obey him.
• Consider one another (Hebrews 10:24) – Discussed previously in 3 “One Anothers” that Make a Strong Church
• Lay aside every weight and run with patience (Hebrews 12:1) – There are things that will pull us away from our service to God. When we encumber ourselves in such a way, we make it difficult to serve him properly. A job, our friends, a hobby or any number of other things we give priority over God apply here.
• Have Grace (Hebrews 12:28 KJV) or be grateful (Hebrews 12:28 ESV) – Christians have membership in a kingdom that will not fall. (Matthew 16:18) The opportunity to serve is a credit only to God’s plan.
• Go forth (Hebrews 13:13) – Christians have a number of responsibilities, they begin with the word Go (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-16)
• Offer the sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15) – The Hebrews knew the sacrifice of praise as an occasional ritual but ours is now a continuous one. Our prayer, our confession of Christ’s love and mercy and any other oral testimony should be on our lips often and always. (cf. Hebrews 3:13)