March 21, 2023 | Be On Mission
Throw off Sin & Fix Your Eyes on Jesus
Scripture: Hebrews 12 (NIV)
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.
The Mountain of Fear and the Mountain of Joy
18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”
Devotional
Many scholars believe that the book of Hebrews was written to Hebrew Christians who might have been considering abandoning Christianity and returning to Judaism. These first century followers of Jesus were probably experiencing double persecution. Jews were upset that they had strayed away from Judaism and embraced Jesus as a “false” Messiah. Romans demanded emperor worship as well as adherence to the pantheon of Greek gods. In this double persecution, one was the frying pan, the other was the fire. The pressure was intense to return to Judaism, which had been given somewhat of a pass by the Roman Empire at this time in history.
So, the author of the book of Hebrews says…
“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” (v. 1).
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (v. 1-2).
“Consider [Jesus] who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (v. 3).
“Endure hardship as discipline” (v. 7).
“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy” (v. 14).
“See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau” (v. 15-16).
“See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks” (v. 25).
Which of these statements would have been the most encouraging for the persecuted believers. Which would have been the most difficult? Which speaks to you today as a follower of Jesus?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we praise You and worship You. We thank You for Your precious written Word. We repent of our sins. Help us not to grow “weary and lose heart” as we serve You. When we stray from You, we are thankful for Your loving discipline, knowing that it is for our good in order that we may please You. Living in such an ungodly and confusing world, help us, dear Father, to be peacemakers, always ready to share the “hope that lies in us:” salvation through the shed blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Poem
It
Hebrews 10-13
When I did IT,
I knew IT was wrong.
IT was against everything I had been taught as a child.
IT was dangerous.
IT was seductive.
IT was a turning point in my life, a turning away.
I remember inviting IT in.
I welcomed IT into my home, my temple.
I welcomed IT—the enemy.
I committed treason.
I was the Judas.
I took the forbidden fruit and savored IT.
As the juice ran down my chin,
I felt a stain.
I understood in the depths of my soul
Eve’s frantic search for a place to hide.
O, that the jungle of the world would swallow me up.
I heard the Lord’s footsteps.
He was calling my name.
“Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7)
I hid behind the spider’s web of lies,
only to get caught in sticky situations.
I hid behind the bush of appearances,
only to get stabbed by its thorns.
I ran to the cave of guilt and sat in its darkness,
only to find the hibernating bear of shame awaking from its winter’s nap.
Anything that happened that the world saw as “hard times,”
I viewed as justified punishment and curse from my Lord and Master.
Loruhamah—I will no longer have pity on your house.
Loammi—for you are not my people and I am not your God. (Hosea 1:6-8)
What shall I do with you? (Hosea 6:4)
“Forgive me, Lord,” I prayed in silence.
Silence returned.
Many saw my struggle.
“You have asked God to forgive you.”
“It’s over; it’s done.”
“Trust God’s eternal gift in Jesus Christ.”
But IT was not over.
IT was not done.
I felt the back of God—
God’s turning away from me.
I felt like an abandoned lover,
crawling through the mud after a relationship that could never be resurrected.
That relationship was what was over.
That relationship was what was done.
When the time of confession came in weekly corporate worship,
IT always vied for central attention.
IT shook the chains and tugged at the choking slave collar.
I wanted to run to the front and expose my shame,
to have IT publicly scandalized,
to beg for mercy.
Yet I remained shackled to my pew.
One day, a different setting
Here was an invitation to come forward.
Here was and invitation to come and be prayed for.
Here was an invitation to come and confess.
Did I dare come in my dirty sodden rags?
Did I dare speak the hidden IT?
Did I dare trust the priesthood of believers?
If I confessed IT, my sin,
and gave back the thirty pieces of silver,
would they release Jesus from the cross;
or would they laugh the cynical laugh of Caiphas and say,
“What is that to us? See to it yourself.” (Matthew 27:3-5)
I had to risk truth or commit spiritual suicide.
I was close to death any way;
what did I have to lose?
I knelt.
I bawled.
I spoke IT out loud.
I told the truth.
I felt hands on my head;
hands of the incarnate Christ.
I heard the words,
“In the name of Jesus Christ,
by the power of his blood
you are forgiven and clean.”
I felt chains fall.
I saw IT bound and led away.
“Who sinned?”
I heard the accuser, Lucifer
cry out in a last stitch effort
to justly free IT.
“This one or her parents?”
“Neither this one nor her parents sinned;
she was born blind
so that God’s works might be revealed
in her,” (John 9:2-3)
I saw my Lord and Lover’s smile.
He had returned to me.
“IT is finished,” he said.
“It is finished.”
My spoken truth
joined the Truth of God
and spoke into being
a new Creation.
A new Eden.
A new Life.
