Today, I am reading and commenting on Hebrews 12-13.

In yesterday’s passage the writer listed many people who have gone before us who lived by faith.  He begins today’s passage by referring to them as a “great cloud of witnesses.”  I see two ways to interpret what he means by calling them witnesses, both of those things affirm the resurrection from death.  First. he could be saying that they are witnesses to our actions and that we should act knowing that these people witness our every action.  Second, and probably more correctly, he may be saying that they are witnesses to the things in which we put our faith. As the writer says in chapter 11 “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” These witnesses have now seen that in which we place our faith.  Since we know that they have now seen that for which we hope we should everything which hinders us from seeking to follow that faith. especially sin.  I want to note that the writer is telling us that there are things which are not, in and of themselves, sins which hinder us from following Jesus.  We should remove those things from our life, while recognizing other believers might not be hindered by those things.  As we struggle against sin, we should be willing to accept God’s discipline, even up to death.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Hebrews 10-11.

The writer tells us that we should seek to draw near to God with faith.  We should strive to unswervingly strive to serve Him by considering how we can build others up in love and good deeds.  That means both loving them, doing good deeds, and helping them love others and helping them to do good deeds.  Our salvation comes through our faith, not through our actions, but we still must strive to leave sin behind.  Let us seek to emulate the saints of old who lived lives of faith and suffered for it.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Hebrews 6-9.

Today I intended to write about how I have understood verses four through six of chapter six at the beginning of today’s passage.  Then I realized the verses seven and eight are expanding on those three verses.  Which made me think that I had not truly understood what the writer meant.  First, let’s look at what the writer says in the first verses.  He writes that those who have shared in the Holy Spirit and tasted the goodness of word of God and then turned away cannot (or, perhaps, will not) ever come back to repentance.  I have long understood that to mean that anyone who has welcomed the Holy Spirit into their lives then later rejects Jesus can (will) ever return to God.  Those verses seem clear.  I may have had some doubts about what constituted being in that condition, but I thought the writing was very clear.  However, I realized today that verses seven and eight were intended to be clarifying, were intended to provide a metaphor which would allow us to more clearly understand the writer’s meaning.  Rather than give me a clearer understanding of the verses preceding it, this metaphor leads me to questions.

So, let’s look at the writer’s metaphor.  He tells us that land which produces crops useful to those for whom it is farmed will be blessed by God, but land which produces thorns and thistles is worthless and may be cursed.  In fact, he tells us, such land will be burned.  As I think about this it makes me think that the writer is speaking of those who receive the Holy Spirit and then refuse to use their gifts to serve others.  In many ways it reminds me of what Paul wrote about those who spend time in pointless arguments, leading others into division and away from Christ.  It also reminds me of the Parable of the Sower.  The more I think about it the more I think this passage is speaking of those who receive the Holy Spirit then actively choose to do the opposite of what they are called to do.  I am not speaking of those who run away from their calling as Jonah did.  It would be as if Jonah heard God’s call to preach repentance in Nineveh.  Then instead of preaching repentance, he encouraged the people of Nineveh to continue in their sin.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Hebrews 1-5.

There are two aspects of today’s passage which speak to me.  The first is the writer quoting Psalm 95, “Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts…” The writer tells us that this means that we must not have an unbelieving heart which turns away from God.  He points out that the passage refers to “today” and that as long as we call the day we are living “today” we have the opportunity to hear God’s voice and turn to Him.  Sin is deceitful and will try to turn our attention away from God and the works He has for us.  Which brings me to the second thing.  The writer tells us that those who put their trust in God will enter into God’s rest, will join Him in the rest He took on the seventh day of Creation.  And this breaks down into two pieces.  We must do God’s work until He brings us into His rest.  We have work to do for God until the day He brings us into His rest, into His Sabbath.  The Sabbath which God established for us every seven days represents a foretaste of the eternal Sabbath into which He will welcome us when our work here on earth is complete.  So, let us do the work which He has set before us while it is “today” in order that we might enter into the rest He has prepared for us.  Yet, each week let us set aside a day to partake of that rest as a foretaste of that rest into which He will bring us if we do not turn away from Him to sin.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.