Devotionals for September 22, 2023
"Savior of the Suffering" sermon continues this Sunday at 9:00am & 10:30am. Make plans to join us!
READ
Hebrews 12:3-4; 7; 11; 28-29
3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,
29 for our God is a consuming fire.
3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,
29 for our God is a consuming fire.
REFLECT
The writer of Hebrews has in mind the daily toil of being a Christian in a fallen world. He is exhorting believers to not grow weary of enduring, not some specific hardship like sickness of famine, but the hardship that is inherent to being a follower of Christ. In other words, even if you never get a bad diagnosis, lose a close family member, go without food, or lose your home there will still be a suffering to endure if you are a Christian. The mere act of proclaiming Christ as Lord in this world threatens some form of suffering. I do not speak of widespread persecution, though that is certainly what the writer of Hebrews has in mind as well. The suffering of the Christian life is living in such a way that goes against the norms of the world. It is as if you, in becoming a Christian, have committed to spending your entire life swimming against a heavy current. This current represents what the world finds normal. Envy, slander, sexual immorality, debauchery, lying, pride, etc. These are the waters you swim against, and swimming against them is hard, it requires endurance.
The good news? Your endurance is worth it. Suffering for the gospel, in whatever way you do it, will “yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” Also, what awaits us after this life when God restores the world and establishes his kindgom once and for all is “a kingdom which cannot be shaken.” When we arrive, when we are ressurected onto the New Earth, we will look back on our suffering as the beginning of glory. Our entire perspective will change so that what was once a suffering will be a pleasant memory of God’s faithfulness to us. This is why suffering will one day end. It is not that we will develop amnesia of our life on this side of heaven, but that we will finally be able to see suffering from the side of heaven.
The good news? Your endurance is worth it. Suffering for the gospel, in whatever way you do it, will “yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” Also, what awaits us after this life when God restores the world and establishes his kindgom once and for all is “a kingdom which cannot be shaken.” When we arrive, when we are ressurected onto the New Earth, we will look back on our suffering as the beginning of glory. Our entire perspective will change so that what was once a suffering will be a pleasant memory of God’s faithfulness to us. This is why suffering will one day end. It is not that we will develop amnesia of our life on this side of heaven, but that we will finally be able to see suffering from the side of heaven.
APPLY
Q: Why does the writer of Hebrews tell us “not to grow weary?”
Q: Where are you needing endurance the most?
Q: How can you use this passage to encourage someone you know?
Q: Where are you needing endurance the most?
Q: How can you use this passage to encourage someone you know?
SING
PRAY
"And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one."
Lord, help us to embrace all of our sufferings knowing that one day they will be no more. Help us to reject the devil’s offering of relief. Help us to be like you! Amen.
Lord, help us to embrace all of our sufferings knowing that one day they will be no more. Help us to reject the devil’s offering of relief. Help us to be like you! Amen.