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THIS WEEK’S BIBLE INSIGHTS ARE BY:
Bob Lunt and are based on Hebrews 3 (NIV)
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ MORE ON THIS WEEK’S MAJOR THEME:
Ephesians 6:10-20 and 2 Chronicles 20:1-30
1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honour than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honour than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold
firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion...”
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
Sunday September 8 - You belong to God
Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling...
Hebrews 3:1
A friend, a keen cyclist, had his “worst ride ever” recently. He knew it was windy, but the strength of the gusts and the unexpected torrent of rain that fell buffeted him, leaving him vulnerable and afraid. What to do? He prayed and battled on, finally reaching home soaked but safe – and grateful to God. Soon the weather improved – and he was back on the bike!
The believers to whom the letter to the Hebrews was written were experiencing persecutions and pressures hard to bear. They were considering leaving Jesus and returning to their former Jewish faith. No! They needed to stand firm, stand their ground as Christians (see Ephesians 6:13-14), and for this they required help, which our writer seeks to provide.
In this week’s chapter he first reminds them who they are: ‘holy brothers and sisters’, people whom God had invested with great dignity by bringing them into his family – an invitation they had gratefully accepted. They were ‘God’s house’ (v 6), members of his own household, belonging to God himself, thanks to Jesus.
And while the present was hard, the future was bright, for they ‘shared in the heavenly calling’; they were ‘citizens of heaven’ (Philippians 3:20), invited to enjoy eternal life with the glorified Lord Jesus, in whom we also share if we hold firmly to our original confidence in him (v 14).
Are you pressured, shaken, buffeted? Hold on to the certainty that you are God’s child.
My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me (Psalm 63:8). Thank you, Lord. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
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