Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Opening Scripture

Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist – denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us – eternal life. 1 John 2:22-25

Opening Prayer

I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how He could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean. He took my sins and my sorrows, He made them His very own. He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. When with the ransomed in glory His face I at last shall see ‘twill be my joy through the ages to sing of His love for me. How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be. How marvelous! How wonderful is my Savior’s love for me. Amen.

Daily Bible Reading

Hebrews 10:19-39

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

Reflection  

I have often referred to today’s passage as the “Salad Chapter” because there’s so much “lettuce” (let us) in it. The writer has packed a lot of teaching into this section. It serves as the “So what?” to everything he has been saying. In some ways, his warning here against apostasy is the harshest yet, but in typical fashion, the writer adds words of encouragement to temper it a bit.

Having just completed a lengthy exposition on Jesus’ superior role and function as the perfect High Priest, the writer reminds his listeners that “we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place … let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience.” 

Only Jesus can provide us with the confidence to enter the Most Holy Place and to approach God the Father with full assurance of faith and a clear conscience! What about those who ”deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth”?

The writer once again felt compelled to offer a stern warning against sin’s deceitfulness, a hardened heart, and the danger of falling away, especially considering the Lord’s imminent return and His subsequent judgment.

Previously, the writer has stressed, “How can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” If we’ve been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, shared in the Holy Spirit, experienced the goodness of the word of God, and yet fall away, we cannot “be brought back to repentance.”

In today’s passage, he states, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”

A Christian who hardens his heart, “abandons the confidence they had at first” (3:14), rejects Christ’s lordship, sides with God’s enemies, and “subjects him to public disgrace” (6:6), can expect God’s judgment. They have, in effect, “trampled the Son of God underfoot, treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant, and insulted the Spirit of grace.”

That is why the writer of Hebrews – and the other New Testament authors – take heresy, apostasy, and assaults against the faith so seriously!

While we assert the “security of the believer” – so the punishment for a Christian who falls away is not eternal damnation (Hell) – “the Lord disciplines those he loves” (Proverbs 3:12) and “the Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Almighty God abounds in mercy, but He is absolutely skilled at “tough love.”

As is the writer’s custom, he follows strong admonition with strong encouragement. He commends his listeners’ perseverance in the face of suffering. He reminds them of their faithfulness in the past and the Lord’s eventual return as sources of strength, and encourages them not to “shrink back and be destroyed, but to have faith and be saved.”

Flourishing Habit

Flourishing Christians

Let us look at the “lettuce” in today’s reading; the “so what?” of the writer’s urgent and careful instruction.

“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings.” Through the Person and work of Jesus Christ, our High Priest, we have the incredible privilege of entering the presence of Almighty God “by a new and living way,” with the assurance of faith and confidence.

Do we even want to? Do we have the desperate desire or sense of need to remain in God’s majestic presence?

Is there a passion for the sacred, the holy, the mysterious, the eternal?

Have our lives gotten so “loud” and busy that we no longer hear (or listen for) the voice of God?

In his book, Dangerous Wonder, Michael Yaconelli offers these thoughts. “We have lost our astonishment. The Good News is no longer good news, it is okay news. Christianity is no longer life changing, it’s life enhancing. Jesus doesn’t change people into wide-eyed radicals anymore, He changes them into ‘nice people.’

“What happened to radical Christianity, the un-nice brand of Christianity that turned the world upside-down? What happened to the kind of Christians whose hearts were on fire, who had no fear, who spoke the truth no matter what the consequence, who made the world uncomfortable, who were willing to follow Jesus wherever He went? What happened to the kind of Christians who were filled with passion and gratitude, and who every day were unable to get over the grace of God?

“I’m ready for a Christianity that ‘ruins’ my life, that captures my heart and makes me uncomfortable. The greatest enemy of Christianity may be people who say they believe in Jesus but who are no longer astonished and amazed.”

We can have confidence and the assurance of faith to enter the Most Holy Place in the name of Jesus through prayer, Scripture, and meditation. “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence” (Ephesians 3:12).

Are we too busy and distracted for that? Do we ask God to “take a number,” and we’ll get to Him when we have time?

For many of us, the answer is “Yes!” Hence, the writer’s repeated warning about apathy, neglect, and drifting away from God.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

The Christian life is a shared journey with shared responsibility! We follow Jesus in the community of faith: the Church. We have a personal obligation and corporate duty to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, spur one another on to love and good deeds, and gather regularly for encouragement.

Are you frequently drawing near to God?

Are you holding tightly to your faith in Jesus?

Are you spurring others on to love and good deeds?

Are you regularly gathering with other believers for study, prayer, and worship?

Remember: Nothing changes until something changes!