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October 7
Hebrews 10:35-39
35Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37For,“Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; 38but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” 39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Meditation
These Christians had grown increasingly distressed in their walk with God because of mounting opposition coming mainly from their Jewish compatriots. By way of encouragement, therefore, the writer reminded his readers how they had successfully persevered under extreme opposition when they first trusted in Christ and “endured a hard struggle with sufferings” (v. 32). Since they had formerly persevered by faith, they are now urged to continue steadfastly in their walk with God. How shall they do this? They are called to take two steps: one step is stated negatively, and the other is a call to positive action.
First, these suffering, struggling believers are admonished what not to do. “Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.” The Christian life is a walk of faith. We first come to Christ by faith, and we continue by faith: “as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him”; “we walk by faith, not by sight”; “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith” (Col. 2:6; 2 Cor. 5:7; Eph. 6:16). By dropping the shield of faith, we expose ourselves to “all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Eph. 6:16). “Whatever you do, do not abandon your faith in God, for you will be greatly recompensed on that Day.”
Second, the writer says to these fainting believers, “you have need of endurance.” The Christian race is not a fifty-yard dash but a marathon race. There is a point in the Boston Marathon Race toward the end called “Heartbreak Hill.” That hill puts every runner to the test; some never make it past that hill and fail to finish. Some never complete the race of faith—they “shrink back and are destroyed.” However, the writer encourages them, “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”
Selah
Reader, keep a firm grip on the shield of faith, looking to Jesus.