Hebrews 10:19–25 // Holding fast together // Becca Ferguson
This passage is just three (long) sentences, but those three sentences are absolutely full of rich and beautiful truths about our God and our faith.
As we read it, we are reminded that because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection – because of His blood – we are able to have confidence to enter the holy places.
What does this mean?
It’s a callback to the Old Testament, where only the priests could enter into the holy places in the temple. Back then, the holy places weren’t for everyone. But now, because of Jesus’ blood, and because He is now our great and forever High Priest, we are able to draw near to God.
We are able to draw near to the God who loves us. We are able to draw near to the God who made us and has a purpose and a plan for us. We are able to draw near to the God who made a way for us to draw near to Him – who saw us in our sin and loved us still, and sent His Son to live and die and rise again, defeating death and sin. What great and wonderful news this is!
And our confidence in God doesn’t just extend to what He has accomplished in the past. We can have confidence as well in what He is doing today, and in what He has promised us that He will do in the future.
We can trust that the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sent, is working in the hearts and minds of those who love Him, helping us to become more and more like this Jesus we love and whom we serve. We can trust that one day, Jesus is coming back for His Bride, the Church, and that He will reign in eternity. We can trust that He who promised is faithful.
And because we can trust this God, we can also trust what He has called us to do – to hold fast together, to stir one another up to love and good works, to encourage and equip each other in the faith, and to meet together to worship Him and learn about Him and serve Him. God’s people can trust Him and listen to and obey Him, both today and every day, until the day that Jesus will return arrives.
So what does this have to do with Lent?
In the season of Lent, we are encouraged to wait and hope in a certain type of way. Together, during Lent, we have the opportunity to seek God carefully and reverently as we look ahead to a special day – to Easter, a day when we celebrate what God did and what He is still doing – and even, as we look to eternity, what He has told us He will do.
And this passage in Hebrews reminds us that it is not only in the season of Lent that we do this watching, waiting, hoping, and praying together. To some extent, this posture of Lent is to be the posture of the whole Christian life – the posture of God’s people together, the Church. We are living in this world, but we joyfully await the arrival of the new heaven and earth. We follow together Jesus now, but we patiently anticipate the day when He will return and we will see Him face to face.
So not only does Lent help us slow down and look to God in the here and now – it reminds us of the posture that we, in some ways, always hold in this life. It reminds us that we trust the Lord, we walk with Him, and we love Him – knowing all the while that the best is truly yet to come.
Question to Consider:
Where are you tempted to doubt God instead of trusting in Him? How might God be calling you to trust Him in a new way, or with a new part of your life, in this season? How might God be calling you to step into community in a new way in this season, as you seek to hold fast and encourage others in the church?
Prayer Prompt
Take a few moments to ask God to help you draw near to Him, and to His people, the Church. Ask God to remind you more and more of the reality that He has been faithful, He is faithful today, and He will be faithful tomorrow, too.
