Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: Hebrews 3-4 and Psalm 11

Hebrews 3-4 mainly focuses on the issue of Christians remaining steadfastly faithful and holding on to our faith in Jesus all the way to the end, so that we may ultimately enter the eternal rest that God has prepared for us. With that in mind, and writing about Jesus the Son of God, the author of Hebrews declares:

 ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

As we go through the challenges, struggles and hardships of life, we can be very tempted to give up on following Jesus. This would be particularly true when persecutions come, or when being obedient to Jesus causes us to suffer some kind of loss. The evil one will seek to leverage those hardships as weapons with which to tempt us to give up and turn away from Jesus.

But Hebrews 4:15 points out that whenever we face those kinds of struggles and temptations, we can call to mind that Jesus Himself experienced them too. When suffering and hardships came His way, Jesus, Who is now exalted and seated on the throne of heaven, was also tempted to take the easy way out (first in the wilderness and later in Gethsemane), and yet He remained faithful and overcame. So, when we experience these desperately tough times, we ought not to turn away from Jesus but towards Him. We ought not to step away from His presence, but instead “approach God’s throne of grace” where Jesus rules and reigns. We should approach “with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Jesus understands our struggles, He knows our pain. When we come to Him, He will never turn us away but will always give us the grace and power we need to endure and to overcome! He’s been through it before us, and He will go through it again with us.

Life application: If you are currently enduring a hard time, or if something should go wrong today and you find yourself tempted to turn back, come to the Lord in prayer with great confidence that He understands. Ask Him for help and receive from Him the grace you need to endure. Stay prayerful. Stay faithful!