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Hebrews 13 Devotional

Today, we are wrapping up our study of the book of Hebrews with chapter 13.  We are going to discuss how to effectively Praise God by looking at Sacrifices that please God including submission to authority.

 

When we walk away from our time together today, I want you to know Christ and godly leaders are worthy of being imitated and this pleases God.

 

Holy Father, would you please show us today how to please You.  Would You teach us how to treat the leaders over us, and how to be good, godly leaders over others.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

We have two divisions:

1.Sacrifices that please God (Hebrews 13:1-16)

2.Submit to Authority (Hebrews 13:17-25)

 

Let’s dive right in to this amazing chapter of Scripture.

 

Read Hebrews 13:1-4.

 

In this first verse of the final chapter, we get a whopper of an instruction: Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters!  Wow!  I don’t know if this meant something different back in the day when this letter was written, but now…?  I’ve seen all sorts of relationships between siblings – good and not so good.  But the verses that follow spell out the details and offer some clarification.

 

First, be hospitable to strangers.  Wait, I thought we were talking about brothers and sisters.  That’s exactly what the author is talking about.  But maybe there were some contentious relationships between siblings back then, too.  So, if we look at this in reverse, we will see that we are supposed to offer hospitality to strangers because we may unknowingly be entertaining angels.  So, shouldn’t we be hospitable to our brothers and sisters too.  We should treat our siblings the way we would angels.  Ouch.

 

Second, remember those in prison as if we were in prison with them!  Ouch!  Those in prison?  Really?  But the idea of that scares me.  Is it even safe?  I know there are plenty of people in prison ministry.  I’ve never participated.  Maybe I should to gain a little perspective on this!

 

Third, remember those who are mistreated as if you were the one suffering.  Ouch!  I am willing to help out in some ways, but maintaining a certain amount of distance keeps me comfortable.  What about you?  How close do you get to those who are suffering?

 

Fourth, marriage should be honored, and God will judge the sexually immoral.  So honor your spouse.  Encourage your married friends to honor their spouses.  Don’t put yourself in the position to get into trouble in this area.

 

This is how we love our brothers and sisters!  Isn’t this what Jesus said the greatest commands were?  First, love God.  Second, love people.  Love.  It’s that simple.

 

Read Hebrews 13:5-7.

 

Now, the author moves from talking about what to love to what not to love: money!  Being content with what you have will offer some protection in this area.  Love God and be thankful for what He has given you.  Begin a thankfulness journal.  Write these things down so you can remember, when times are tough, what God has done in the past.  Sometimes, He may feel far away, but the author of Hebrews reminds you that He is right there with you.

 

Can you say with confidence that the Lord is your helper?  Are you trusting in God and His plan so well that you are not afraid?  Do you recognize God’s sovereignty to the extent that man has no power of his own over you?  I’m reminded of Jesus’s comments to Pontius Pilate during one of His trials before the crucifixion.  Jesus told Pilate that he had no authority over Jesus that God didn’t give him.  Something to think about.  But we need to keep moving.

 

Right after mentioning God’s sovereignty and mortal man’s incapability to do anything to another on his own, the author then remarks to remember your leaders.  Curious.  We should remember all leaders over us.  We should be actively praying for our leaders.  All of them.  Employers.  Government.  Business people.  Church leaders.  The author does continue by clarifying he is talking about those who spoke the word of God to you.  Consider how they walk with God and what the result of that is and imitate their faith.  We are supposed to look at the fruit of the leaders’ lives and imitate their walk.  So, I would choose leaders who are bearing the sort of fruit you need to bear, the fruit you struggle to bear perhaps, and I would imitate those leaders.  Who is a leader in your line of sight that is bearing the kind of fruit you need to bear?  Follow after them.  Now, the author seems to punctuate this statement by mentioning Jesus:

 

Read Hebrews 13:8.

 

Why might it be important at this point to mention that Jesus is never-changing, from eternity past to the present to eternity future?  I think this is a great punctuation mark to the first seven verses which are instructing the reader to love each other like brothers and sisters, showing hospitality, remembering those in prison and suffering as if you were with them, honoring marriage, not over-honoring resources that God gives you, remembering that God is closer than your next breath, that He is sovereign over your whole life and every authority He places in a position of power, and we should imitate the fruitful and godly leaders He places over us.

 

Jesus is the ultimate fruitful and godly leader!  We should absolutely be imitating Him!  But we should also see Jesus in each stage that this chapter has mentioned previously.  Love our brothers and sisters as if they were Jesus Himself.  Aren’t our brothers and sisters in Christ filled with Christ’s Holy Spirit?

 

Regarding hospitality, when we do something for another, isn’t is as if we are doing it for Christ?  When we do something to another, isn’t it as if we are doing it to Christ?

 

What about the prisoners?  Sure, some of them might be in prison for their faith, but others committed crimes.  Right?  Well, God wants NONE to perish.  Salvation is for EVERYONE.  Therefore, EVERYONE is potential brother or sister in Christ.  So…we’re back to loving our brother and sister!

 

OK.  Marriage is supposed to be a picture of the relationship between Christ (the Bridegroom) and the Church (the Bride of Christ).  Do we need to go into more detail on this one?  This is the love we’re supposed to have.  Not the love of money.  Money is a tool the God provides to meet our needs and the needs of others.  We are to be good stewards of those resources.  We are to be heavenly minded, which should make us less a collector of worldly “stuff.”  I’m just sharing how God is speaking to me on this.  I recently returned from a mission trip to Scotland and Ireland.  I “fell in love” with that part of the world.  When I returned home, I signed up for an Irish subscription box.  After receiving one box, the company went bankrupt.  I don’t think this happened to keep me from collecting more Irish trinkets, but I’m rethinking signing up for another subscription at the moment.  This plays right in to God being with us and being our helper.  Thank you, Jesus!

 

And that brings us back to our leaders.  Let’s continue.

 

Read Hebrews 13:9.

 

Focus on Christ.  Don’t be carried away by strange ideas or old traditions.  Practice grace.  Don’t worry about eating kosher.  Read on for a food transition.

 

Read Hebrews 13:10-14.

 

The Jewish priests living the old way didn’t eat the flesh of the sin offering sacrifice.  The high priest carried the blood into the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the mercy seat and the bodies of the animals were taken outside the camp.  Jesus was taken outside the city gate to pay for our sins.  But, what struck me when I read verse 10 was this: we observe communion in remembrance of Jesus’ suffering.  During the Last Supper, Jesus instituted this remembrance, indicating that the bread was His body and the wine was His blood.  We go to Him.  We go to the cross.  We suffer.  Outside the city.  Longing for the heavenly city to come.

 

Read Hebrews 13:15-16.

 

Now, the audience is told to continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God through Jesus Christ.  This praise is identified as the fruit of the lips that openly profess His name.  Are you boldly speaking the name of Jesus?  In addition to this, are you obediently doing the good that God’s Word is teaching you to do?  Are you generously sharing with others?  This is what God desires from His children.  This leads us to our first principle:

 

Christ-like character pleases God.

 

What aspect of Christ-like character would you like God to develop in you?  What thoughts are getting in the way of you carrying out God’s instruction to live like Jesus?  What one thing do you observe godly leaders doing that you could put into practice this week?

 

Now let’s continue with the last few verses where the author of Hebrews talks about authority and what our attitude toward that authority should be.

 

Read Hebrews 13:17-19.

 

We’ve already talked a little bit about leaders.  Now we get some insight into why we should submit to their authority.  First of all, God is sovereign over all authority.  There is not a single person in a position of power that God has not strategically positioned. I believe this, and yet I am preaching it to myself.  I really struggled with some decisions that were recently made in my workplace.  Anyway, these leaders will one day give an account for how they watched over us.  Yes, it’s their job to watch over us.  We need to submit so their work will be a joy, not a burden.  Isn’t a joyful leader is a good leader to submit to?  The Scripture even states that our submission to make their work a joy will benefit us.

 

We should also be praying for our leaders.  For their wisdom.  For their submission to God.  For their watching over us to be a joyful experience and not a burden.  For their health and prosperity.  For their salvation.  For the fruit of the Spirit to manifest in their lives.  In verse 18, the author mentions having a clear conscience and a desire to live honorably in every way.  Pray for those things too.  Verse 19 gets a bit more specific to the author and the recipients of the letter. He asks them to pray that he would be restored to them.  Is there anyone you might pray for in this way?

 

Read Hebrews 13:20-21.

 

Now the author begins to close the letter, talking about how the God of peace, through blood, brought Jesus back from the dead, and how that same God will equip them to do His will.  That same powerful God will equip you to do His will, too.  Are you walking through a painful season?  He is right there with you!  He will give you the courage, the energy, the strength to get through whatever is in your path.  Just cling to Him!  He’s been there for me through a cancer diagnosis, a 13-month stretch of unemployment, and raising two teenage girls!  Take whatever your struggle is to Him in prayer right now.

 

Read Hebrews 13:22-25.

 

OK.  Let’s wrap this up.  The author closes his letter urging the recipients, his brothers and sisters in Christ, to obey his instructions.  He indicates that Timothy has been released.  From where, he doesn’t say.  But if Timothy meets up with the author, they would both come to the recipients.  He sends greetings to the leaders and the people.  He also sends greetings from the people from Italy.  This leads many scholars to think the letter was being written to believers in Italy.  The final words are “Grace be with you.”  What a beautiful closing.  What a beautiful thing to want for someone.

 

And here is our final principle:

 

God establishes all authority, and when we submit to it, that pleases Him.

 

What attitude needs to change for you to honor the authority God placed over you?  How might you better obey God in your position of authority?  How are you praying for and supporting those in authority over you?

 

Thank you for joining me on this journey.  It’s been a blessing to dig into these passages more deeply and share what I’ve learned with you.  Until next time.  Grace be with you.

Holy Father, I ask that you would bless each person reading this devotional message.  I pray that You would draw them to study Your Word more deeply.  That You would speak truth to them and give them insight.  That You will teach them to obey Your Word and be a godly example to others.  In Jesus’ precious name.  Amen.

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