This evening I am teaching in the book of Hebrews and will be working through the second warning passage. As I read it some light bulbs began to go off in my thinking. We are in the midst of some very difficult days...job loss, health problems for many, divorce is epidemic and fear is in the air. People are really hurting, the days are difficult. There is a temptation for all of us to simply run away and hide, but this passage in Hebrews talks about the team nature of this life,
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Heb. 3:12-13 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
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There are several things about this passage that stuck out to me, 1. Be careful, we have a tendency to turn away from the Lord, 2. The solution to this is to be in a body of believers who can encourage, warn, pray for and help us, 3. This is a daily activity. We have to be in the business of caring for and encouraging each other every single day. You never know when someone might wake up so discouraged that they would choose to walk away, and 4. Sin is a deceptive thing, it hardens us to God so that we begin to think that what we are doing is ok.
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The one thing from this list that caught my attention is the team nature of the Christian life. It is not a life to be lived in a vacuum. We must be in community to care for each other, encourage one another and get a pulse on how we are doing. The deceitful nature of sin is that you get hardened to it and its impact on your life if you isolate yourself. That's why it's always true that someone who chooses sin will not stay in the community of the saints. Their hearts are hard and sin is easier when you get away from "those Christians."
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So, TODAY, encourage someone who is discouraged, check on someone who has wandered off, care for someone who needs help. Any day that has "today" in it is an opportunity for us to encourage one another to keep going. Difficult days will bring the church closer together. If you find yourself pulling away from the fellowship of other Christians, be careful....you might find yourself far from the faith and the community of those who can encourage you when you need it most.
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And, since it is TODAY let me encourage you, God is good, he does answer prayer, he does care for you, he will help you, don't give up, he is faithful, he really is there and will provide for you.
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