Begin with two minutes of silence and stillness before God.
Yesterday’s passage in Hebrews ended with an admonishment for believers to grow in their relationships with the Lord, graduating from “milk” to “solid food”. Keep that concept in mind as you read Hebrews 6. The end of verse one tells readers that they shouldn’t keep laying the same foundation over and over. If you’ve ever watched construction of any kind, you’ve seen that the foundation is laid one time, in a correct manner, and then subsequent steps in construction can take place. If the foundation isn’t stable, then the pieces of the building project that follow are always in danger of crumbling under pressure. I see the spiritual parallels in this process, and it seems that the writer of Hebrews wants us to keep this picture in mind as he elaborates. Spiritually speaking, our foundation is Christ and the power He has to save those who have called on Him. As we grow in that and build on our foundation, completing the next steps in spiritual construction, a trajectory of growth should be evident in our hearts and in our lives. We shouldn’t keep struggling with the same sin that we had when the foundation was first laid for us. The fruits of the Holy Spirit should be increasingly more of our character and our hearts from which we serve the Lord. The author of Hebrews tells us that as we grow in this way, we do so with earnestness or deep, sincere conviction, living out who God has called us to be by faith, knowing that it is He who does the “building” or the growing and changing in us.
As you’re growing in your walk with the Lord, there will be hard days just as there are times of celebration and rejoicing. No matter what situation you find yourself in currently, today’s passage reminds us of where our hope comes from. The author writes that there are “better” things than what we see in front of us each day for those who are in Christ through His salvation. Certainly, we have hope for every moment and promises to cling to, but we also have a hope that we can look forward to what’s to come for those of us who have called on Jesus as Savior. One day we will be with Jesus, and He will put an end to darkness, sin, and death. That truly is better.
This passage goes on to remind us that we serve a God who cannot lie; He is Truth. He fulfills His promises. We have a promise of God to save all who call on Him through Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews says He is our refuge, giving us hope as an “anchor for our souls” (verse 19). He knows that we’re bound to encounter storms in this life, and He holds us steady. He’s also our “forerunner” in verse 20, going before us into the presence of Almighty God, a place we could never go on our own, and waiting there to welcome us home eternally. Lastly in this passage, the writer calls Jesus our High Priest, a recurring theme in Hebrews. Since He’s our High Priest forever, we are eternally secure. Of this truth, commentator Matthew Henry writes, “Let us then love heaven the more on his account, and long to be there with him, where we shall be forever safe, and forever satisfied.”
Fellow believer, you have hope today. Whether your current situation lands you on a mountaintop high or in the lowest valley of despair, there is hope. While there are good things in life, given to us by God, there are better things to come. As we walk each day on this earth, there is an unfailing anchor for our souls until we reach eternity.
Take two minutes to reflect in silence.