Holding firm

My friends, be careful that none of you have a heart so evil and unbelieving that you turn away from the living God. Instead, in order that none of you be deceived by sin and become stubborn, you must help one another every day, as long as the word ‘Today’ in the scripture applies to us. For we are all partners with Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at the beginning. (verses 12-14)

Read Hebrews 3:12-19

Near my home a new housing development is going up. I watched with great interest one day when a truck loaded with styrofoam blocks pulled up to a newly levelled building site. The men proceeded to unload the blocks from the truck, set them out in the pattern of a foundation, tie in the steel reinforcing rods and pour the foundations over the top of the blocks. I asked one of the builders how strong this type of foundation would be. He replied, ‘Strong enough, but don’t jack your car up in the garage or it will go through the floor’. Why did they do it this way if they knew it had weaknesses? ‘Cost’, the builder said. ‘It’s cheap and easy to lay out the foundation this way.’

How often have we taken a similar approach to decisions in our life? The easiest way. The cheapest option. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that we now share in Christ, and we can hold onto it firmly. It will not come cheap. It will not always be easy to remain in Christ. But by doing so, we rest on a solid foundation, a sure hope for the future. Let’s hold firmly to Christ.

Lord God, help me always to hold on firmly to the promise of life you have given me in Jesus. Amen.

by Rev Tom Peitsch, in ‘Living Water for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2001)

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