The Letter to the Hebrews: What Faith Looks Like in Action Cont.d
A couple of days ago, we compiled a list of action points inspired by Hebrews 12. And guess what? There’s more! Hebrews 13, the last chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews is packed with ways in which the believers were being challenged to step up and show their faith in action.
So here’s today’s list, based on the Message version on Hebrews 13.
- Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love.
- Be ready with a meal or a bed when it’s needed.
- Regard prisoners as if you were in prison with them.
- Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you.
- Honour marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex.
- Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have.
- Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness.
- Don’t be lured away from Jesus by the latest speculations about him. The grace of Christ is the only good ground for life. Products named after Christ don’t seem to do much for those who buy them.
- Go outside, where Jesus is, where the action is—not trying to be privileged insiders, but taking our share in the abuse of Jesus.
- Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of “sacrifice”—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.
- Be responsive to your pastoral leaders. Listen to their counsel. Contribute to the joy of their leadership, not its drudgery. Why would you want to make things harder for them?
Wow! Just imagine if we as Christians were living like this today! What a difference we would make!
Read through the list again, prayerfully asking God to highlight one or two of these action points for your consideration (although in reality, we should all be putting them all into practice all of the time!).
Verse 8 points out that ‘There should be a consistency that runs through us all.
Jesus doesn’t change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself.’
Jesus is the ultimate role model. He consistently lived as God intended all humans to live.
Where and when are we going to start?
