Encouragement in Endurance

"Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, just as Moses also was faithful in all His (God's) house. For Jesus has been counted worth of more glory than Moses--as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are His house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope." (Hebrews 3:1-6).

We are holy brothers, adopted by God through Jesus. He is not ashamed to call us His children. No, He willingly stepped off His throne, taking on every single aspect that we too possess (except the sinful nature) and came to gather us like a flock, and make us holy by His sacrifice and by His continual ministry as our high priest, interceding on our behalf to God.

We have a heavenly calling; that is, we have an apostle who came from God to testify to us of God, and a high priest who is now back with God to testify to God on our behalf, so that we might trust in Christ and thus prove this confession of what He has done for us by our unwavering steadfastness, confidence, and joyful hope. In this great calling, we are motivated to keep on living for our Savior even when the going gets tough; we can live unburdened of our past, live free from the threatening present, and "live in the future tense" by fixing our eyes on Jesus, the "blessed hope," who will soon return to us.

Both Jesus and Moses were faithful, but Moses was faithful in God's house, whereas Jesus was faithful over God's house, being the very builder and cornerstone of that house, which is the Body of Christ, the Church. We too can be a faithful part of His house, "if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in hope."

Confidence in Christ + Confession of Christ = joy and hope.
Enjoy your spiritual experience, don't just endure it. 

Know that Jesus Christ is using any and all experiences in your life to equip you for service that will glorify His name. Earlier in chapter 2, Jesus is seen as coming down to earth and becoming "in every respect" like us. He gets it. Better yet, He knows how to endure it and how it is equipping us. He endured in our nature, physically, emotionally, and mentally was like us, for the purpose that He could help us endure as well. 

So, are we receiving that help He so graciously offers us? 

We need to learn how to gaze at Jesus, and only glance at all the problems we feel confronted by. Open your hands, open your eyes, open your ears. Let all the things you cling to fall. Consider carefully this Jesus we confess. Hold fast to the confidence that Jesus is all we need. 

Oh Christ, be the center of our lives,
be the place we fix our eyes, be the center of our lives.
We lift our eyes to Heaven,
we wrap our lives around your life.
We lift our eyes to Heaven, to You.
Oh Christ, be the center of our lives.

"Behold, I am making all things new." (Revelation 21:5)