Concluding Words
1Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters.* 2Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! 3Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.
4Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.
5Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,
“I will never fail you.
I will never abandon you.”*
6So we can say with confidence,
“The LORD is my helper,
so I will have no fear.
What can mere people do to me?”*
7Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.
8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.
10We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle* have no right to eat. 11Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. 12So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. 13So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore. 14For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.
15Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. 16And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.
17Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.
18Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do. 19And especially pray that I will be able to come back to you soon.
20Now may the God of peace—
who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great Shepherd of the sheep,
and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—
21may he equip you with all you need
for doing his will.
May he produce in you,*
through the power of Jesus Christ,
every good thing that is pleasing to him.
All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.
22I urge you, dear brothers and sisters,* to pay attention to what I have written in this brief exhortation.
23I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released from jail. If he comes here soon, I will bring him with me to see you.
24Greet all your leaders and all the believers there.* The believers from Italy send you their greetings.
25May God’s grace be with you all.
December 14 Reflection & Worship
Enduring Faith
FAITH IS THE DARING OF THE SOUL TO GO FARTHER THAN IT CAN SEE.
LOOK BACK Though the authorship of Hebrews remains a mystery, the thrust of its message could not be clearer. Spiritual birth is only the beginning. It is imperative that Christians go on to maturity and develop a grown-up and growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Don’t be tempted to return to your pre-Christian past, for the path of Jesus is better in every way. Jesus is better than the angels . . . better than Moses . . . better than Joshua . . . better than the priests. He offers a better way . . . a better sacrifice . . . a better work . . . a better rest. And because of that, the author is “confident that [Christians] are meant for better things” (Hebrews 6:9) as they press on to maturity in Christ.
The path is well trod by Old Testament models and martyrs, whose faith and perseverance can become a constant source of encouragement. In them we discover the liberating truth that “anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
LOOK UP What is the longest distance you have ever run without stopping? And how did you feel when the run was finally over?
Chances are, your answer was something less than a marathon (26.2 miles). And even if you have run a marathon sometime in your life, when it was over you probably had no desire to repeat the experience anytime soon.
The Christian life would be a breeze if it were only a sprint—a hundred-yard dash of endurance, a quarter mile of patience, half a lap of steadfastness. Unfortunately, that’s just not the case. The Christian life is more like a marathon. For Moses, it turned out to be a 120-year “hike” from Egypt to Midian, back to Egypt, and on to Moab. For Noah, it involved a century-long shipbuilding project under God’s watchful eye. For Abraham, it meant a wait of twenty-five years for a promised son. No sprint, to be sure, but an exercise in endurance. And it was their enduring faith over the long haul that provided these heroes of the Old Testament with an enduring testimony that continues right up to the present.
LOOK AHEAD When you think of models of enduring faith from your own generation, who comes to mind? Here are some suggestions of worthy candidates:
• a minister who has faithfully preached the gospel for forty years
• a couple who has stayed married and worked through their problems, rather than allowing those problems to drive them apart
• a missionary who has labored in a harvest field of the world for thirty years
• the Sunday school teacher who has faithfully taught class after class of fifth graders (including the children of former students!)
Why not honor their faithfulness today with a special phone call or note of appreciation? Their lives are living examples of Hebrews 12:1-2 in action. And it would no doubt make their day to know that you are following in their footsteps.