Hebrews: continual praise
Welcome to the weekly lift number 84, Tuesday 7th December 2021, as we continue in thankfulness through the New Testament. Today we look at the letter of Hebrews: "continual praise"
Sometimes it's quite easy to do things for a short time but not easy to keep doing them. As a child, it was easy to keep my room clean for a week, but not for a month. Diets are often easy for a few hours, but not for a few weeks. Exercise regimes. Daily Bible reading. Homework. Paying bills. It's easy to do all these things. But it's not always easy to KEEP doing them, day after day, week after week!
Hebrews continually warns us of drifting...
Hebrews 13:7-9
7Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.9Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.
It's easy to keep to the truth of God's word, but it's also easy to be distracted. When struggles come along, it's easy to shift the truth of God's word to fit with what we want to hear. These verses from Hebrews remind us of two things:
(1) Jesus doesn't change, so
(2) don't be carried away by all sorts of teaching.
Jesus is the constant. Through all times of life, he doesn't change. His truth doesn't change. In times like a worldwide pandemic, it's common to hear people taking God's word and twisting it to suit their own circumstances or beliefs. But God's word is more than a feeling; it's more than "what I WANT to hear now"; it's more than just something to make us feel justified in our current circumstances. It is the truth that never changes. Even when it is inconvenient for us, it is still truth.
Jesus never changes. And because of that, we are called to never cease in giving praise to him:
Hebrews 13:15
15Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.
He deserves, he is worthy, of continual praise for his continual truth. How are we called to do that? By opening our lips to profess his name. In doing this, we profess the truth. Not our own truth, and not our own version of the truth, but the absolute truth. The God truth. Confessing Jesus, proclaiming Jesus, is how we continue to speak truth into a world that is seeking to make up its own truth. The truth is what our world needs to hear.
As we approach the end of another difficult year, here is a reminder of what should remain on our lips: Jesus. This is how we sacrificially praise God - by professing the truth of Jesus.
This is not easy to do in our world today. But we are called to do it continually. Continually. This is not easy. But Jesus is worthy of this.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, may I never tire of professing the truth of your name. And may I never be persuaded into twisting the truth of your word to suit my own circumstances. May I hear your truth, and continually speak your truth. Amen.