Read: Hebrews 13
When we read chapter 12 we learned about God’s discipline and our
spiritual exercise. We learned the ‘why’ behind it. In Chapter 13 we are told
about the ‘how’.
The author lists many things we need to do to exercise our faith.
Love, show hospitality, care for prisoners and those who are abused, honour
marriage, stay sexually pure, don’t love money and be content. Sometimes, after
reading something like the Faith Chapter (chp. 11) it is easy for us to want to
grow our faith by doing big things. Yet, the writer of Hebrews shows us in this
passage that living with a disciplined life in the day-to-day matters is also a
matter of faith.
Let’s look at the matter of money and being content with what we have.
He says we should do this because of what God said. God promised never to leave us or forsake us. So our practice
of faith would be to believe it, and
live accordingly. If we have less than we’d like, or even feel we need, one
example of living in faith would be to rejoice and be glad, not worrying at
all, because God has promised to supply all we need. We could practice this by
keeping our eyes on the prize of heaven, remembering that in heaven we will
have an abundance of all good things. We can put our eyes on Jesus and believe
that He is growing in us a dependency on Him and purifying our lives of things
that don’t matter.
He also talks about submission to spiritual leaders. He reminds us
that our spiritual leaders will actually have to give an account for us. They
have a heavy burden, so they will not likely ask you to do things God hasn’t
told them first. Otherwise their consequences and discipline would be that much
heavier. But he doesn’t just say to do what we’re told. He goes above and
beyond that and instructs us to submit so well and so willingly that leading us
would be a joy to them.
Verses 20 and 21 are a beautiful prayer. It is a pray of faith and
equipping. This prayer is one many of us could use prayed over us. We all need
God to work in us, to equip us, and to help us please Him. In this way we can
also bless others by praying these very words of scripture over others. In this
short prayer of blessing he summarizes much of what we have learned through
this book. He anoints us with this blessing as well so that we don’t have to
leave this mighty book of faith and fail in our sin again. He blesses us and
prays for our equipping so that we might, in fact, rise up in the power of God
to become men and women of great faith.
[Bonus: For another example of how the sacrificial system of the Old
Testament was a copy which we learned about on Day Ten, and how Jesus was it’s
fulfillment, reread verses 11 and 12.]
Journaling and Prayer
1.
Re-read the list of things we were warned about in the first five verses
of this chapter. Ask the Lord to highlight any of these that He wants you to
become more disciplined in. If none of these stand out to you ask Him to give
you another area of day-to-day living, or even an area of struggle, that He
wants you to grow in discipline. Thank Him for using these mundane struggles to
grow your faith and holiness.
2.
Ask the Lord to speak to you about how submissive you are to your
spiritual leaders. Be honest with yourself and the Lord regarding this, and humbly
accept what He says. Do you bring your leaders joy or are do you make
leadership difficult for them? Thank the Lord for His willingness to forgive
our sin, and to help us learn submission through discipline. Make a commitment
to honour the Lord by submitting to your spiritual leaders.
3.
Take a few minutes now to pray a blessing for your spiritual leaders.
Thank God for them. Ask God if there is something specific He wants you to do
today to bless them. Pray verses 20 and 21 for them.
Foundations Notice
We are working on our next Foundations Devotional right now, and we should have it ready shortly. As a result you may see an interruption in receiving these updates. In the meantime, you may download an archived Foundations or simply use a Bible Reading Plan to stay in the Word. Thanks so much and have a wonderful day!
