Read with Me
Hebrews 13:1-3 (HCSB)
Let brotherly love continue. Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it. Remember the prisoners, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily.
Listen with Me
The writer of Hebrews concludes his letter with a series of short exhortations, urging his readers to live out in the world what they have believed in their hearts. This is vital because, as the writer has intimated before, an abstract faith that doesn’t have a real-world impact is worthless.
The first exhortation is to continue to live in an attitude of brotherly love. The Greek word is philadelphia, and it indicates the kind of affection and care typically shared, or at least expected, among family members. But for the Christian, when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are adopted into God’s family as his children. Thus, all Christians become our brothers and sisters, and are expected to be loved as such. And this love is not to be present only in worship services or during times of fellowship. It is to not cease, to become a defining characteristic of believers.
The next exhortation is to exercise hospitality, bringing those whom we may not know close and sharing with them. Not only is this a powerful and effective method of evangelism, but it also provides opportunities for God’s messengers, whether angelic or human, to enter in and deliver His message and His blessings. The illustration given of entertaining angels without knowing it is from the life of Abraham, who fed the three visitors without having any idea who they really were (Genesis 18:1-8).
The next exhortation is to remember those in prison, and to even identify with them. This indicated much more than merely praying for them, although that was important. In the Roman penal system, the bare minimum of food was supplied by the jailer, usually leaving the prisoners weak and debilitated. But family and friends were allowed to bring additional food to an individual person, allowing them to stay strong and healthy. So, for those Christians who knew fellow Christians who were in prison for their faith, and there were many at this time including Timothy (Hebrews 13:23), the writer is urging them to pray for them, and to visit them with food and other necessities just as they would want someone to do for them if they were arrested for their faith.
Pray with me
Father, many Christians seem to feel that if we want to be exemplary models of the Christian faith, that we must do extraordinary things. But the things the writer of Hebrews exhorts the Christians to do are actually pretty ordinary things: caring for each other, welcoming in strangers, and supplying necessities for those who can’t supply them for themselves. But if we consistently do these seemingly small things, I can see that it would have a powerful impact right where we are. Help me, Lord, to be faithful in the small things, so that I am well-positioned and well-prepared when bigger things are needed. Amen.