“Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us… Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” – Hebrews 12:1,3

Scripture reading: Hebrews 11

It is clear we can easily underestimate the seriousness of this sin. We fail to notice how deceptively the enemy is lulling us into a sleepy spiritual apathy. But is there a worse diagnosis, that we have lost our awe of the living God? The writer of Hebrews enjoins us to fight and endure like the men and women of Chapter 11. How? Here are a few thoughts (some of this is from Brian Hedges’ Hit List).

Don’t give up and quit. You will be tempted to fall asleep at precisely the moment when vigilance and zeal are most needful. Don’t resign yourself to this lifestyle. Meditate on the Scriptures that encourage alertness, endurance, perseverance and hard work.

Don’t resort to artificial stimulants that often accompany a disinterested and apathetic lifestyle: alcohol, drugs, binging on food or TV, shopping, pornography.

Care for those in need: recognize the opportunities that God is presenting in your life; give up your indifference to a broken world.

Be earnest in your pursuit of assurance; trust in God’s promises, so that you will see yourself as involved in the great purposes of God in this world.

“We desire each of you to show the same earnestness, to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promise” (Heb. 6:11-12).

Suggestion for prayer

“Every new duty calls for more grace than I now possess, but not more than is found in Thee, the divine treasury in whom all fullness dwells” – The Valley of Vision: Grace Active

This daily devotional is available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional. Rev. Mark Stewart serves the Burlington URC in Burlington, WA.