Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today.” Hebrews 3:13
After another week of being beaten down by more medical setbacks, I slumped onto the sofa. I didn’t want to think about anything. I didn’t want to talk to anybody. I couldn’t even pray. Discouragement and doubt weighed me down as I turned on the television. I began watching a commercial showing a little girl talking to her younger brother. “You’re a champion,” she said. As she continued affirming him, his grin grew. So did mine.
God’s people have always struggled with discouragement and doubt. Quoting Psalm 95, which affirms that God’s voice can be heard through the Holy Spirit, the writer of Hebrews warned believers in Jesus to avoid the mistakes made by the Israelites while wandering in the wilderness (Hebrews 3:7–11). “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God,” he wrote. “But encourage one another daily” (vv. 12–13).
With our lifeline of hope secured in Christ, we can experience the power-packed fuel we need to persevere: mutual encouragement within the fellowship of believers (v. 13). When one believer doubts, other believers can offer affirmation and accountability. As God strengthens us, His people, we can offer the power of mutual encouragement to one another.
Warning Against Unbelief
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:f
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your heartsg
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.h
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,i
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ j”b k
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.l 13 But encourage one another daily,m as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.n 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we holdo our original conviction firmly to the very end.p 15 As has just been said:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.”c q
16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?r 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness?s 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his restt if not to those who disobeyed?u 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.v
INSIGHT
- How has God used the affirming words of someone in your life to comfort and encourage you during a difficult time?
- How can you encourage others with your words today?
Because of severe persecution, Jewish believers in Jesus were pressured to revert to Judaism (Hebrews 10:32–39). To encourage them to persevere in their faith, the writer of Hebrews told them to fix their thoughts on Jesus as their supreme example (3:1–6; 12:2–3) instead of their unfaithful ancestors who missed the blessing of entering the promised land (3:7–11). With an emphasis on “today” (vv. 7, 13, 15), he urged them to obey God daily and help each other every day, so they wouldn’t develop an “unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God” (v. 12) and thus forfeit the blessings of salvation (v. 18).
PRAYER
Loving God, help me live for You and lift others up in love with my words and actions. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen!!
Read: Hebrews 3:7-19 (NIV) | Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 42-44; 1 John 1
