JULY 17, 2014
Lookin’
Good!
Read: Hebrews
10:19-25
Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. —Hebrews 10:24
After trying on my new
sunglasses in the car one day, my daughter handed them back and said, “These
are not sunglasses, Mom. They’re just fashion lenses. Let me guess,” she
teased, “you bought them because you look cute in them.”
Okay, I have to
admit—my daughter knows me. I hadn’t given a passing thought to UV rays or even
whether those glasses would actually block the sun. I just really liked the way
they looked on me.
Most of us like to
look good. We want to appear that we “have it all together”—with no struggles
or fears or temptations or heartaches.
Trying to maintain a
façade of perfection on our spiritual journey doesn’t help us or our fellow
travelers. But sharing our lives with others in the body of Christ benefits us
as well as others. When we are a bit more transparent, we may find people who
are struggling in a similar situation. And as we enjoy a growing fellowship
with God and become more aware of our own brokenness and inadequacy, God is
able to use us more fully to help others.
Let’s allow God to
strip away any pretense and “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward
love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24 niv).
Wearing a mask that
shows everything’s fine
Says that life’s
struggles are not God’s design;
But when we’re open,
transparent, and true,
People will trust God
to meet their needs too. —Sper
Believers stand strong
when they don’t stand alone.
Insight
One of the great
ongoing debates among Bible scholars involves the authorship of the letter to
the Hebrews. In the early days of the church, it was generally regarded to have
been written by the apostle Paul, but scholars disagree about its authorship
today. Along with stylistic elements of the content that these scholars say
does not match the writings of Paul, one often-cited argument against Pauline
authorship is that Hebrews is anonymous, and Paul declared that he always
signed his letters (2 Thess. 3:17). Some of the names offered as the possible
human author of this inspired letter include Luke, Apollos, Barnabas, and
Priscilla.
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
