Following God “Today”
But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Hebrews 3:13
The book of Hebrews aims at encouraging Christians to stay faithful. Jewish Christians might turn away from Christ due to all of the external pressures they faced. They had changed from the beliefs of their youths, doubtlessly alienating them from their families. The Jewish leaders were persecuting those who would claim Jesus was the Messiah. With all of these pressures, these Christians might lose their faith and turn away from Christ.
The Hebrew author wisely tells them to focus on their faith “today.” Christians can be easily distracted by looking too far into the past or the future. Every day has its battles and temptations, and a wise disciple will arm themselves for war every day.
Looking into the past may discourage Christians by focusing on their failures. Some people look at the past days, weeks, and months and fixate on their sins against God. They believe that He could never truly forgive them. God wants them to focus instead on Him and choose to do right today. The past cannot change, but they have control over how they act today.
Others may be arrogant because of past righteous actions. They look back on all the great deeds they performed previously. They believe that they do not need to try so hard moving forward. They ignore the fact that they needed God’s forgiveness, to begin with, and owed a debt they could never repay. No amount of good deeds can settle our account with God. He will never owe us based on what we do. No matter what we did yesterday, we need to focus on serving God “today.”
Looking too far into the future can cause similar issues. When God lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he intentionally avoided the Philistines because the people might be discouraged by facing those enemies (Exodus 13:18). Likewise, we can lose heart by looking at future battles. We might say, “How can I serve God every single day for the rest of my life without faltering?” God does not expect us to handle all of our days at once. Instead, he wants us to focus on “today” and prepare for that battle and that battle alone.
A Christian can easily be overwhelmed by looking too far forward or too far into the past. God is wise to tell us to focus on “today.” It is a common theme in the scriptures because God understands our frame. Therefore, as Joshua says, “Choose this day who you will follow.”
But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Hebrews 3:13