A brief appeal

Hebrews 13:22 But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. After 13 chapters in our Bible, we may laugh at the author’s assessment of his letter. It’s a brief one. Wow! I wonder how long it would have been if he had written everything that was on his mind. Maybe it’s like John’s comment about all the works of Jesus. John wrote in 21:25, Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” As I come to the end of this letter to the Hebrews, my heart is so grateful for the encouragement I have found to live to love with Jesus—even in this brief letter. It has been full, so full of foundational truth and continual encouragement. It is a wonder to me that he felt he needed to appeal to them to bear with his letter, which he considered an exhortation or an appeal. If we were reading the Greek, we would see that the words for urge and exhortation are the same word. It’s like he appealed to them to bear with his appeal. The encouragement I get from this verse is that I want to appeal to you to do what this writer did with everyone God puts in your path. Follow my train of thought. We know God is love. God inspired this author to appeal to his readers to run the race by faith with endurance, fixing their eyes on Jesus, and confidently, continually, going to Him for grace so that God would receive the glory through Jesus Christ at the end of their lives and forever. I encourage us all to make the same appeal to our brothers and sisters in Christ whenever we meet someone who is growing weary and tired of the journey of life. They need the grace of God, and in this letter, we have learned where that grace comes from—Jesus Christ, Himself. So today, in harmony with the author of Hebrews, I make this brief appeal for us to love with Jesus like the author did by pointing others to Christ. I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of “giving it forward,” so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.