Hebrews 10:32-39 (HCSB)
Remember the earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to taunts and afflictions, and at other times you were companions of those who were treated that way. For you sympathized with the prisoners and accepted with joy the confiscation of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves have a better and enduring possession. So don’t throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised.
37 For yet in a very little while,
the Coming One will come and not delay.
38 But My righteous one will live by faith;
and if he draws back,
I have no pleasure in him.
But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and obtain life.
Having held up a fearful picture of those who turn away from faith in Jesus, either by returning to the empty forms of Jewish worship, or by turning away from righteousness back to slavery to sin, the writer of Hebrews turns his pen to encouragement.
Those Jewish people who had turned to faith in Jesus did not have an easy road. The list of sufferings and mistreatments they had suffered at the hand of their fellow Jews is impressive and is very reminiscent of the persecutions which Paul had undergone as he had followed Jesus. Even when they themselves were not the target of the persecution, they had stood faithfully, shoulder to shoulder with those who were targeted, to encourage and strengthen them.
The writer is reminding them of these things because some of those who had suffered so much were now seriously considering jettisoning their faith in Jesus and returning to Judaism. But the writer is encouraging them forcefully to not do that, to not abandon their faith in Jesus, to not throw away eternal life, trading it for perhaps more comfort in this life, but ultimately for eternal suffering in the next.
Even though the way of a disciple of Jesus was difficult, even though privation and suffering seemed ever-present with those who steadfastly followed in the footsteps of Jesus, the writer reminds his readers that they are faithfully following Jesus, not for physical comfort and material riches, but for an eternal reward which the faithful will receive from Jesus when He returns in triumph and glory.
Father, we are still in need of this reminder, this encouragement, today. Even though in America not many Christians experience privation and persecution for their faith, it can often be discouraging to see our society moving so quickly away from You. And it is easy to feel alone in trying to stop the decline. But this writer reminds us that we are not in the kingdom to receive rewards in this life. Instead, while our journey here lasts, we are to faithfully do the hard work of growing Your kingdom and look to the future for our reward. Help me to stand strong, Lord, to be faithful, and to never succumb to discouragement or frustration. Amen.