God Speaks
Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! 3 Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.
4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.
5 Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,
“I will never fail you.
I will never abandon you.”
6 So we can say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper,
so I will have no fear.
What can mere people do to me?”
7 Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.
10 We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. 12 So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. 13 So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore. 14 For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.
15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. 16 And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.
17 Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.
18 Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do. 19 And especially pray that I will be able to come back to you soon.
20 Now may the God of peace—
who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great Shepherd of the sheep,
and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—
21 may he equip you with all you need
for doing his will.
May he produce in you,
through the power of Jesus Christ,
every good thing that is pleasing to him.
All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.
22 I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, to pay attention to what I have written in this brief exhortation.
23 I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released from jail. If he comes here soon, I will bring him with me to see you.
24 Greet all your leaders and all the believers there. The believers from Italy send you their greetings.
25 May God’s grace be with you all.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: Believers are to remember that Jesus is supreme and has or is the answer for all of the following: 1) those imprisoned for Christ; 2) those who are being mistreated; 3) those who are suffering in their bodies for various reasons; 4) those who have difficult marriages and/or family situations; 5) those who think that money will solve all of their problems; 6) those who are seeking to lead God’s people well; 7) those who have made food (or their physical bodies or religious rituals) their focus. It is only through Christ Jesus that we can offer God proper sacrifices, praise, confession, and acts of service. We ought to submit to, honor, bring joy to, and pray for the leaders God has put in place to watch over us.
Prayer: Dear LORD God, who is kind and hospitable to us, please help us to be loving, kind, and hospitable to others thus pointing them to Christ. May we especially remember that Jesus is supreme and has or is the answer for all of the following: 1) those imprisoned for Christ; 2) those who are being mistreated; 3) those who are suffering in their bodies for various reasons; 4) those who have difficult marriages and/or family situations; 5) those who think that money will solve all of their problems; 6) those who are seeking to lead God’s people well; 7) those who have made food (or their physical bodies or religious rituals) their focus. Lord Jesus, please help me (and the rest of Your people) to offer proper sacrifices, praise, confession, and acts of service. May we submit to, honor, bring joy to, and pray for the leaders You have put in place to watch over us. AMEN
I can conclude the prayers for the book of Hebrews in no better way than the prayer of Hebrews 13:20-21 (HCSB, Holman Christian Standard Bible):
“Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus–the great Shepherd of the sheep–with the blood of the everlasting covenant, equip you with all that is good to do His will, working in us what is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen”
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will look for ways to increase my “sacrifice of praise” to God, then do them.
- I will look for ways to do good to and share with other people, then do them.
- I will look for ways to obey, submit to, and pray for the leaders God has placed over me, then do them.
- I will look for ways to care for my own and others’ souls, then do them.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.