Fix Your Eyes on Jesus

As I said in a previous post, I have been especially struck by the commands the writer of Hebrews gives us. This is not the focus of the lesson series, but these commands would make a good series of their own. The first was in Hebrews 2:1.

We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

The second, from Hebrews 3:1, seems to tell us how to do that.

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

In chapter 1 we are told that Jesus was superior to angels. Then the command was given to pay more careful attention to the message so that we will not drift away. In chapter 2 we are told that Jesus, who was already shown to be superior to angels, was made lower than the angels to be like us. He was made like his brothers he is therefore better able to help us in our times of need. So Jesus is so important, that as we think of the message we have heard, and pay more careful attention to it, the most important part of that is to fix our thoughts on Jesus.

Good words for this season.

Hebrews: Pay More Careful Attention

I am much enjoying our study of Hebrews. The approach of the lesson writers, a series focusing on how things are better since Jesus came, is a novel approach. Let's see, we've had:

• Jesus is superior to angels
• Jesus is great than Moses
• Jesus is the better way of entering God's rest
• Jesus is the greater high priest
• The new covenant in Jesus is superior to the old covenant

Yet, this type of approach overlooks something else in the book that is also important: the commands the writer of Hebrews gives us. The book includes quite a few "Therefore, we must..." type commands. These typically alternate with the "better than" segments. Take the first one:

"We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away."

Those who first read Hebrews, or who couldn't read and only heard it read, were at a decided disadvantage to us. They have no New Testament to study. They had no televisions or tape recorders to allow them to hear things over and over again. In their fellowship times, an elder would read from the scriptures that they had--the Old Testament--and then expound on it. It's possible that they might have read from one of Paul's letters, depending on how widely these had been copied and distributed at an early date.

They didn't have commentaries to explain how Jesus fulfilled their scriptures. They didn't have many published books created to help them live the life God wanted for them. Just what they heard.

Perhaps, then, we have less excuse than they did for drifting away. How should we paraphrase the command of Hebrews 2:1 to make it more applicable to our modern era? Perhaps:

Since Jesus is superior to all ministering spirits, we must pay more careful attention to all the life-building information God has sent our way, so that we do not drift away.

Bible Study

I admit it: I'm a Bible study junkie. Whenever I read the Bible, it is almost always for study purposes. Oh, every morning at work I read a short Bible passage and then the devotional in Our Daily Bread. Since I have only five days at work and ODB is a 365 days a year devotional by quarter years, that results in some interesting devotions. Right now I'm reading the Dec 2008 devotions, which of course are all about Christmas. In September!

For me, sitting down and reading the Bible just for pleasure, or just for devotion, or just to have something to meditate on is difficult. I always feel that I should be doing in-depth study of whatever I read in it. Somehow I need to add the pleasure-devotional reading to the study reading. Perhaps this will be my project for the next twelve months.

Simon Says

Well, I hope everyone had a good time in class today. I enjoyed catching a couple of people in the game of Simon Says.

I chose the game, and the silly illustration of keeping your Bibles closed, because I wanted to demonstrate how we willing accept authority over us. I think at times we forget why we accept the authority of the Bible, and from time to time we should refresh our minds about it. Peter said it well in the passage we looked at (2 Peter 1:12-2:10a). I will be reading that again this week.

May you be carried along by the Holy Spirit this week as you study God's word.