Hebrews 10:19-39; Exodus 11; Exodus 12; Proverbs 4

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,” (Hebrews 10:23-24 NKJV)

Faith is a combination of our beliefs and our practices as the author of Hebrews makes clear in this section of Scripture. He calls us to continue to stick to our beliefs. I think it’s interesting that his encouragement is to “us” and not to “you.” Faith is a community event, and while we in the Western world look at individuals and individual beliefs, the early church understood faith in community. Even the confessions of faith made those who followed Christ a part of a larger community. The church is a mighty continent, not a string of islands, as God’s people believe and work together. One way the church works together is when we encourage each other to love and to do good works in our world. Our beliefs should affect our actions and if we’re holding fast to our hope, the promise of life in the Kingdom of God, then not only should we be doing good works in our world, Kingdom works, actually, we should be encouraging others to do good works as well. Good works don’t get us into heaven, but they do reflect a life lived in the Kingdom of God.

What have you done for others recently? Have you encouraged fellow Christians? Have you done something to help people in need? Have you shown love to people who need to experience God’s love? Show that what you believe is so important that it makes a difference in how you deal with other people. There are a lot of people who won’t believe what you say unless you show them what you believe by the good works you do. Help others to experience the goodness of God by your good works.

Lord, remind me that I am a part of Your church. Let me hold fast to my confession of faith in unity with other brothers and sisters in Christ. Let me do good works to show others my commitment to You and encourage others to join in the celebration of our faith by showing Your love to others.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.