It is 2 AM and I am having one of my Prednisone insomnia moments. I laid in bed for a while thinking about Sunday’s message out of Hebrews 12 and decided to just get up and find my computer and write down some thoughts. I opened my online Bible since I was sitting in the dark and decided to read through a couple chapters of Hebrews just to get a feel for what led up to the portion of Scripture I was going to use.
I started in Hebrews 10 and got as far as verses 24-25. “And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” [Hebrews 10:24-25 HCSB]
There are twelve “Let us” phrases in Hebrews, everyone rich with a command or encouragement for our walk of faith. This one caught my eye quickly. It reminds us that like Epaphras from Colossae, we are to be concerned about one another, we are to gather together, and we are to encourage one another. The reason for these three things is that “the day” is drawing near.
As I thought about those things this morning it is clear that “the day” is nearer now than ever before, and that we are facing opposition just as those Christians Jews were facing when the letter to Hebrews was written. It is even more important now that we look out for each other.
In many places, we are forbidden to meet in places of worship. The fear-and-virus pandemic has affected what we took for granted, that in this country our constitutional right to practice our Christian faith would always be there. To me that makes the “let us” commands of these verses even more important.
We must make a determined effort to check on each other, to make sure we are promoting love and good works even while under attack and opposed. We must encourage one another to keep running this race and not be discouraged that we run now in the face of resistance and even hostility. And while we may not be able to be together in-person, we can for the time being, be together online, and in spirit and truth.
Now let’s see if I can get back to sleep.
