My Daily Pause

Five times during the course of Hebrews, the writer digresses from the main text to give some specific warnings to the Christians it is addressing. If we believe Christianity is slipping away, then I suggest these are where we start looking to fix it.

Key Warnings For Christians

There are usually urgent conditions behind every warning

• Pay closer attention (Hebrews 2:1-4) – We should be more diligent in our Bible study. Anything that is neglected becomes old and useless faster than the things we use and protect. Neglect of our Bible study causes us to drift away.
• Care for your beliefs (Hebrews 3:7-11) – The lure of innovative worship and doctrine, or refusing to leave something old and familiar when the truth is before us will cause us to fall.
• Work toward maturity  (Hebrews 5:11-6:20) – It is just as fatal to our salvation to do nothing as it is to commit outright sins. You see, doing nothing is an active decision and is therefore a sinful act.
• There are no more sacrifices (Hebrews 10:26-29) – The last and greatest sacrifice has been made for us. If we refuse to honor that through obedience, there is nothing more that can be done
• Listen to the voice of heaven (Hebrews 12:25-29) – God always acted as promised based on the words of his prophets, how much more sure is it that he will act upon the words delivered by his own Son?

Since I first worked on this lesson, I have added two additional points.

• Enter the rest (Hebrews 4:11-13) – Following the word of God takes a lot of work and focus. Whether or no we take it on, we will be exposed by it.
• Avoid strange doctrine (13:9-15) – Any doctrine that does not come from Christ is strange or foreign. It doesn’t matter if we grew up with it or our best friend taught it to us. Stick to the Bible.

These seven building blocks are required for strong churches, families and individuals. When properly applied, they make the rest of God’s word easy to follow and a joy to be a part of.

A Celebration of Sin

The Babylonians are coming and God is tired of the sin.

At least that was the warning that Jeremiah spent 40 or 50 years trying to tell the Jews. Josiah had started restoring the temple and the law but it just wasn’t enough. The people had gotten so sinful they couldn’t even blush anymore. (Jeremiah 6:15) People were proud of the debauchery they could practice.

Jeremiah as painted on the Sistine Chapel

In Jeremiah 13:1-11, God compares a loincloth as it clings to the waist of a man to the way he wanted the children of Israel to cling to him. God laid out an excellent plan for his people. One that would insure they would never want for anything. For whatever reason, the lure of false gods and strange people was enough to abandon that security.

Just as the cloth rotted from being hidden in the damp rocks of the river, (Jeremiah 13:7) God decided he would allow the pride of his people rot. A people that would do such a thing are good for nothing. (Jeremiah 13:10)

God gave his people warning after warning, but it was always accompanied with an offer of forgiveness. That didn’t happen in this event or anywhere in chapter 13 for that matter. Bible scholars can argue over the exact meaning of the parts of this difficult prophesy, but one thing is clear:

The ruined loincloth is the illustration of how God feels when his children fail him.

Daily Bible reading for July 19

Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8
Joshua 21
Jeremiah 13
Matthew 26:30-75