Quote for the Day
“…encourage one another daily…”
Today's Prayer
This week pray for those on the road as they may be discouraged and in need of encouragement. Pray that they will see God’s hand in each day and be encouraged by the prayers and love of those at home.
Hebrews 3:7-19
Hebrews 3:7-19 (NIV)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, during the time of testing in the desert, 9 where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ “12 See to it, brothers, 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. 14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 15 As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of ? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 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.
Message
In the last chapter we were given the positive action to take: “…fix your thoughts on Jesus…” In the current passage, we are given the things NOT to do. What is the most important thing not to do? “Do not harden your hearts…” This is such a simple command, yet one that takes a lifetime to accomplish and an army of helpers to succeed. Daily we are faced with decisions that test our focus on God and His will for our life. (The test is not of our salvation, as it is secure because of Him and our decision to accept His gift – not because of us.) Each day we face challenges that ask us to put God first and place the worries of this life aside for the sake of God’s will. This is not an easy task and God is fully aware of that. He has watched since eternity the struggle of each and every person. He has also provided a way to make that task easier, and it involves YOU. We see the plan of God in verse 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.” We are the solution for both ourselves and others. If we spend our time encouraging others, it becomes very difficult to not be encouraged ourselves. This week seek someone who needs your encouragement and give them that encouragement!