Daily Lenten Devotion for 3/4

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” – Hebrews 3:12-13

The Epistle to the Hebrews was addressed to Jewish converts to the faith who were considering returning to Judaism. They were caught between what they grew up believing (Judaism) and what they recently started believing (the Gospel). The author’s intent is to encourage them to stick with these new, strange, unfamiliar beliefs despite their doubts.

Whether we have always been followers of Christ, or whether we became followers of Christ an hour ago, we all doubt our beliefs from time to time. Occasionally, when life slows down enough for us to really think about what we believe, the questions begin in our minds. “Was Jesus Christ really born to a virgin mother?” “Is he actually fully human and fully divine? How is that possible?” “Did he actually, physically die?” “Did the resurrection really take place?” “Does he really still live and reign in me, in us?”

These are just a few of the questions that often leave me wondering if my Christian beliefs are no more than myth. I begin to doubt the validity of these claims which I preach. What is a pastor to do? What is a Christian to do?

The author of Hebrews has the answer: we are not to try to believe it all on our own. We need the help of others. We need to commune together for encouragement against the deceit of doubt and sin. We must pose that Wesleyan question that is to be asked of all our companions: How is it with your soul?

As Al Green would sing, “We all need somebody to lean on.” We cannot and must not go it alone, but must rely daily on the encouragement of others and let others rely on the encouragement we can give. Only then can we persevere through the questions and the doubts. Thank God for providing us with companions on our journey.