Week 49 Hebrews
Today I read through the whole letter at once. To make things easier I galloped through all the quoted passages (56 of the 303 verses are OT quotes – about 18%. So my reading-time was reduced marginally.) Hebrews is an OT-dense environment – familiar for a Jewish reader but not so comfortable for everyone else.
One thing I noticed was a repeater-message – stay strong and committed to the Lord:
Pay careful attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away
See to it…that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God
Be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short
Make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience (the reference is to Israel in the wilderness)
Hold firmly to the faith we profess
Show diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess
Persevere so that you will receive what he has promised
We do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
Hebrews has other things to say but I think almost anyone reading the letter is going to be impressed by this message: Hold Fast!
Note: quotes from Hebrews 2:1 3:12 4:1 4:11 4:14 6:11 10:23 10:36 10:39 (NIV) (I omitted some words but kept the meaning).