Hebrews 10:24-25
(24) and let us consider how to stimulate one
Another to love and good deeds
(25) not forsaking our own assembling together
As is the habit of some, but encouraging one
Another; and all the more as you see the day
drawing near
The message in this verse is simple, but it can often be hard to achieve. In today’s culture we, as Christians, are completely cocooned in darkness. Because we are also easily pressured, we often tend to make our lives look more like the darkness and less like the light. But that is not what God wishes for us.
Verse 24 says we should be stimulating others to love and to perform good deeds. You see God did not create Christians to be followers, he created us to be leaders. He created us to be lights on a hill for all to see. Instead of being like a chameleon and morphing into the darkness surrounding us, God wishes that we become the stronger force and cause the people around us to change instead of the reciprocal.
The easiest way for us to do this is found in verse 25. We need to stop abandoning the Christians around us for the things of this world. What often happens in today’s society is that we are confronted with a choice. Choose either to follow God’s path or follow the worlds, but the path leading to God is a very narrow path.
The word that this verse uses is forsaking. That can be translated in two different ways. You can take it to mean actual abandonment, or you can take it to mean an abandonment of trust. Or basically ridiculing our fellow brothers and sisters and losing their trust in us. But God does not wish for that. Instead he urges us to encourage each other.
We are taught by mother culture that comedy is found only in the breaking down of others. So we often pick the lowest person we can find (who no one cares about… right?) and then we break them down even more so we can feel higher. God does not wish for us to be like that. In fact it is that very form of pride that God absolutely hates. And as God says in this verse, the only emotion we should ever show others is encouragement.
Notice that the next section of the verse says especially when the day is drawing near. What does that mean for us? It means even when you have had a long day at work, a hard day at school, or even just a difficult day period, the only words that should come out of your mouth should be encouraging ones. Even when you are in the darkest pit of a day, and the only thing your soul craves is to say a slammer to someone... don’t. Instead encourage them and let them know how awesome they are.
Being a light is hard, in fact it is probably the hardest thing you will ever do. But it is also the most important. As talked about above, people are often going to be followers. They are going to look at the what they see around them and duplicate it in their own lives. This confront you with a problem, no matter what you do or want, someone out there is going to copy you. And most likely someone is probably going to copy them too. So your choice is simple, Are you going to live a life leading others to Satan, or a life leading others to Christ. You can say any answer inside your head, but the only answer that truly matters is the one shown by your actions.
