Hebrews 12:1-29

Those who have gone before us in the walk of faith have set an example that we should be eager and willing to follow.  It will not be an easy walk but it will definitely be a worthy walk.  Regret is one of the worst feeling in the world because there is very little we can do to go back and change what we have done or the way we have lived.  In Christ, we can experience forgiveness and by His grace move forward but nevertheless regret is a part of choosing sin.  The life of faith a life without regret and it is worth following with all of our hearts.  This chapter calls us to pursue this life and tells us how to go about it.

DILIGENCE FOR GOD: In light of the lives of those who blazed the trail of faith for us, we must be very diligent to follow closely in their path.  This life of diligence involves putting off the sins of our lives that only serve to weigh us down, working to complete that which God has called us to do, and then setting our hopes on that which is eternal.  The cloud of witnesses that have gone before us are shouting to us that it is worth it all.  They do not regret the sacrifices that they made and they long for us to enjoy the same pleasures that they are enjoying in the presence of Christ.  Jesus has made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf.  He paid the price for our sin and has given us the privilege of knowing and serving Him.  He has been exalted to the right hand of the Father.  Now He calls us to set our hearts and minds on Him and never give up, never look back, never fall down, but to follow Him in faith knowing that for all of eternity it will be worth it all and we will have no regrets for doing so.

DISCIPLINE OF GOD: Unfortunately, we all know that we will fail.  There will be many times when we do not exercise due diligence and we will sin.  When that happens we will be disciplined by God.  This discipline should not be seen as a motive for anger or discouragement.  Rather, God’s discipline should be a source of great encouragement to us for it is the confirmation that we are children of God and the He is disciplining us for our own good and for His glory.  If we live a life of sin and are not disciplined that should be a source of great concern to us, for it is an indication that we are not his children.  Discipline is not something that we enjoy, but it is very necessary and should be counted as a blessing.  God’s discipline is a demonstration of His love and devotion to us so it should be a source of encouragement when God, in His wisdom disciplines us.  We may regret that which caused the discipline to be necessary, but God’s discipline when accepted with grace and humility will never be a source of regret.

DEVOTION TO GOD: Reverence of God is a scarce commodity in our secular society.  God is not feared and His very existence in brought into question.  He is used as a punch line in jokes and His name is treated as comma in the speech of so many in our world.  We must not get sucked in to the blasphemous life of irreverence.  We must stand in awe of God and worship Him and Him alone.  We must never allow our hearts to worship that which He has created but be spurred on to worship Him as a result of what we see in the world around us.  One day all of mankind will stand before God and give an account to Him for what they have done or failed to do.  At that point, there will be no one who will fail to fall before Him in worship.  All will stand in awe of Him, all will fear Him, and all will revere Him.  However, we have the honor of worshiping Him now that we might inherit together with Christ the kingdom that God is preparing.  We must never lose sight of the honor we have of knowing God and worshiping Him.  Our hearts should be full of gratitude that He has revealed Himself to us and that gratitude should spur us on the obedience and service.  We will never regret a life of reverence and worship.