Sharing Our Lives
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,” Hebrews 10:24
Robert Putman made a staggering statement: “As a rough rule of thumb, if you don’t belong to any groups and then decide to join one, you cut your risk of dying over the next year in half.” It’s hard to imagine anyone disinterested in reducing their risk of dying by 50 percent. That’s why some churches have adopted this motto: “Join a group or die.” One of the characteristics of the early church was their faithfulness to connectedness, because they knew connectedness doesn’t merely happen. They met together daily. They ate together. Over time, however, that happened less. So the writer of Hebrews said: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25). One author puts it this way: “In sports, the more an athlete needs encouragement from the fans, the less likely he or she is to get it. Rarely do fans of a losing team think when a slumping player comes up to bat, ‘Let’s consider how we can spur him on.’ Too often, people who need cheers the most get them the least. Every day, everyone you know faces life with eternity on the line, and life has a way of beating people down. Every life needs a cheering section. Every life needs a shoulder to lean on once in a while. Every life needs a prayer to lift them up before God. Every life needs a hugger to wrap some arms around them sometimes. Every life needs to hear a voice saying, ‘Don’t give up.’”
PRAYER: Dear God, I know someone who really needs a lift today. Help me to say the right words to stir them up to love and good works and not give up. In Jesus’ Name. AMEN.
Devotion Archive… More Devotions | Sign Up to Receive Devotions
Responses