Hebrews 10:32-11:3
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.”
38 And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.”39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
11:1Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.[1]
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What is striking in this passage is the call to perseverance in the face of persecution. The writer commends his readers for their perseverance thus far. Note what he mentions: They have endured public ridicule, along with the confiscation of their property
The main point of the letter to the Hebrews is to encourage the readers to be faithful to Christ in the face of difficulty, opposition and persecution. In particular, the writer encourages them not to reject Christ and go back to the Old Testament Jewish faith. But it is important to note that this encouragement comes to people who have already endured more persecution and opposition than I have ever seen. I have not been publicly ridiculed for my faith. I have not had my property confiscated. I have not endured the more extreme persecution that the Hebrews were fearing, and from which they were tempted to shrink back.
But it exists in our world. I have mentioned before in this devotion the need to pray for those who daily face the danger of persecution around the world. And if some of the reports regarding the horrific shooting in Oregon are true, violent persecution has come to our country as well. So it is vital to pray for faithfulness for those who will face persecution for their Christian faith today. We pray for protection, but we also pray for faithfulness.
I also pray for faithfulness for Christians who will not face persecution, and yet are tempted to shrink back from living as faithful witnesses. I pray for all of our faithfulness, that in light of what Christ has done, in response to His promises, we may live with faithfulness and boldness.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Heb 10:32–11:3). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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