Hold On Tightly …
Week 3, Day 4 of Choosing God Instead of the World, A Love God Greatly Study
Scripture Reading: Genesis 36:1-37:1, Genesis 27:28-29, Genesis 27:39-40 and Hebrews 10:23, Hebrews 11:20 (SOAP: Hebrews 10:23)
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Hebrews 10:23 NLT
Observation:
As I was rereading this verse a sing-song-ditty from my childhood came flooding back to my mind. I really only remember this one part … “hold on tightly, hold on tightly – swinging high, swinging low”. We would sing it over and over as we soared high into the air and descended low to the ground and back up again. It seems like a nice little reminder that regardless of how high or low the events of our swinging pendulum of our days/lives take us we must hold on tightly to our hope. We should clarify that the hope we refer to is the faith and hope we have placed in Christ Jesus and the promises God has made through Him. This is especially important when we are being pressured because of our faith, which was the case of those the author of Hebrews was addressing. His readers were Jewish Christians who were facing persecution and being pressured to return to Judaism. While we may never face the persecution they were facing we certainly face daily pressures in this fallen world to choose the ways of Jesus or the ways of the world. We would be wise to take this wisdom and make it our own – so that whether the pendulum of life has us on a mountain top or in the valley – our “hope” will not be shaken. Whether we soar on the swing to the mountain-top or descend on it to the valley floor we must remember and be resolved to hold on tightly to Jesus, Paul told the Galatians, we wait eagerly for the hope of righteousness, by faith, Galatians 5:5. According to the commentary from gotquestions.org, on this verse, Paul is referring “to the day of judgment, when we will hear God Himself declare us righteous because of our faith in Christ. Until that day, we wait, placing all our hope in just one person: Jesus.” Now, doesn’t that sound like something worth holding on to?
Application: How then should we Live?
Hold on tightly to Jesus and the hope that is ours through Him. Don’t lose sight of Him when everything is going right – and when everything seems to be going wrong and there seems no way out – hold on tightly and trust in the promises that God has made to us, for we know that they are ‘yes and amen’ in Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 1:20.
Prayer: Response to God’s Word
Father, help us to live faithfully – unswayed by the pressures of this world to take the easier road or to revert to the way we used to be – to live for self or others. Help us to hold on tightly to the hope of our faith and to Your good and trustworthy promises. – In His Name – AMEN!
Your Turn:
- What examples have you seen of secular greatness or success growing faster than spiritual greatness?
- Why do God’s promises demand patience from the recipient?
Want More?
If you have the journal for this study then you will already have access to this devo – but for those of you without the journal – I think you will find this to be quite helpful in understanding the connection between our focus passage and the continuing saga of Jacob’s life.
https://lovegodgreatly.com/devotional-choosing-god-instead-of-the-world-w3d4/