January 21st - Hebrews 3:13

Hebrews 3:13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. I still vividly remember the warnings that my mother used to give me when I was a child. They had to do with what I ate, how I crossed the road, the people I spoke to, the way I cycled my bike and so on. I suspect that many of you have similar memories. And the reason we were given all those warnings was because we were loved. If our parents or carers hadn’t been bothered about our safety and wellbeing they would have kept quiet. The warnings weren’t always welcome, but they were good for us and I am sure that we all look back with gratitude for them. In today’s verse, the writer was encouraging his readers to keep on warning one another. He was conscious of how easily they could slip away from the Christian faith, and didn’t want them to go the same way as the Israelites in their wilderness wanderings. Time and again they had refused to listen to God’s word and had paid a terrible price for their disobedience. The writer of Hebrews continually encouraged everyone to look after one another and saw warning one another as a vital part of their loving relationship. Life today is full of challenges for every Christian. Each day we are tempted to worship the gods of money, sex or power and we are offered an amazing range of false philosophies and religions. Love demands that we warn one another. We will always want to respect people’s right to make their own decision, but when we know that there are dangers ahead it would be irresponsible for us to not to give a word of warning. This might not be an easy thing to do but love compels us to act. Question In what specific ways should we be warning other Christians at the moment? Prayer Lord God, thank you for all those people throughout my life who have loved me enough to warn me of dangers ahead. Amen