Hebrews: The Daily Discipline of a Devoted LifeSample

One of the best-selling books of our time is a guide for pregnant mothers called What to Expect When You’re Expecting.* Amid the joy of having children, the book encourages new mums to be realistic about the chaos and sleepless nights that lie ahead. It’s not all warm cuddles, and picture-perfect smiles! 

This passage teaches us that Christians need to be realistic about the hard edges of our faith. While there is joy and peace, if we are expecting an easy ride we’ll become disillusioned. There are three realities we need to be aware of:    

1. The Day of Judgement. While liberals want to edit out divine judgement from scripture, you simply can’t avoid it. This passage speaks of ‘a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God’ (v. 27). Alarmingly, this warning is written to professing Christians. The writer says, ‘If we deliberately keep on sinning’ (v. 26); if we have a laissez-faire approach to sin, don’t want any Christian accountability, and grow apathetic about following Christ, then our Christian confession means nothing and we, professing Christians, need to fear the flames! Do we need a wake-up call?    
2. The call to suffer. The writer encourages his readers to remember back to days when they were willing to suffer for the Gospel. They stood by those in prison, and were willing to have their property confiscated. But this is in the past tense. It appears they are no longer willing to suffer for the faith. Suffering, whether it’s physical, spiritual or psychological, is an expectation in the Christian life, not the unfortunate by-product of living in a fallen world. It is a sign that we are living authentically. It’s what to expect when you are believing! Are you persevering in the midst of struggles right now, or toning down your commitment to Christ?    
3. The hope of glory. It’s not just the negatives of judgement and suffering we need to expect, but the hope of glory. Perhaps heaven seems distant to you right now, just as it seemed to these Hebrew Christians. They were encouraged to persevere ‘so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised’ (v. 36). We have a glorious inheritance waiting for us beyond the stars. Don’t let that hope dim in your heart. It is as certain as the rising of the sun. Your present trials will give way to a glory beyond imagination!

Reflection

How can you keep reminding yourself of the hope of glory? 

*Murkoff, Heidi, What to Expect When You’re Expecting (Simon & Schuster, 1984)