We've studied many examples of faith this past week, and the author used the stories of these Old Testament saints to encourage us to keep fighting the good fight of faith. Today he uses the greatest example of all to keep us from losing heart: the example of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We face daily struggles while living in this fallen world. We are constantly bombarded by Satan with things that are intended to entice us to do wrong---or to entice us not to do things that are right. Not all of our sins involve obvious and deliberate disobedience. Sometimes they are sins of omission. This is what the Lord's brother James was talking about when he said, "If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them." (James 4:17. Sins of omission can take place when we don't follow through when we know we ought to take time to help someone in need, or when we know the Lord wants us to give encouragement to a friend, or when we feel the Holy Spirit urging us to spend time in prayer for people who are struggling. One of the devil's most successful tactics is to make sure we're exhausted so that we become "weary in well doing". (Galatians 6:9)
Sins of commission are more obvious. These are situations where we make a conscious decision to say or do something that goes against the word of God. There are all sorts of reasons why we decide to do these things. Often it's a matter of merely allowing our carnal natures to temporarily get the upper hand over our spiritual natures. Other times we make bad decisions because we're angry, or hurt, or bitter, or disappointed. Sometimes we fall for Satan's lie that it's no use for us to keep on doing right when things are going wrong in our lives. He fools us into thinking that someone has promised us that if we treat everyone right, no one will ever treat us wrong. He tricks us into falsely remembering that we were guaranteed easy lives if we try to always be good people. God didn't tell us we wouldn't have hard days. God tells us to keep on doing right in spite of the hard days. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't instruct us to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (Luke 6:31) because this forces others to treat us the way we treat them. Jesus lived on this earth and He knew that sometimes people reward good behavior with evil behavior. But we are to treat others as we want to be treated because this is God's will for us. We aren't to sink down to the level of wicked people. We are to behave like the children of a holy God.
If doing right guaranteed us a life of continual comfort and happiness, then Jesus Christ should have had the happiest and most comfortable life of anyone who ever lived. He never committed a single sin, yet he was mocked, despised, betrayed, beaten, and crucified. This is why the author of Hebrews uses Jesus as the ultimate example of faith. Jesus kept on doing right no matter what went wrong in His life. He was mistreated far more than you and I have been, but He never became angry or bitter or discouraged. Instead, even as He hung on the cross, He prayed for those who were responsible for His agony, saying, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)
If the examples of the past several days aren't enough to encourage us to stay strong, the example of Jesus Christ ought to give us the second wind we need to finish this race. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:1-3)
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