Friday night, I had the wonderful opportunity to share for a few minutes with the 2011 graduating Bible school students. I’ve had the honor of working with these 7 young people very closely for the past two years, and as I prayed about what God wanted me to share with them, He showed me a few things from Hebrews 12 and 13 that seemed appropriate for the occasion. People said so many nice things to me afterwards that I decided to write the five things in a blog to process it and have it in writing for future reference.
Five “Keeps” from Hebrews 12-13…
1. Keep your eyes on Jesus.
Hebrews 12:2 encourages us, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…” This is something that God has really worked in me the past twelve months or so. I’ve learned that the more I’m in communication with Him, the more I’m willing to go where He goes and say what He says. If my eyes are fixed on Him, nothing He asks me to do is too hard.
2. Keep cultivating fruit-bearing disciplines.
During my years of MCI had the opportunity to get up early, read my Bible and pray consistently, read good books, etc. All of these habits were really disciplines. Hebrews 12:11 says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” I have seen such wonderful fruit in my life from the disciplines I’ve cultivated the past few years. I know, though, that I need to keep on cultivating these disciplines in order to keep bearing fruit.
3. Keep loving each other as brothers AND reaching out.
For the graduating students, the past two years have been full of rich relationships. Most of us have relationships that feel like family. These relationships are so important, and in the Body of Christ, we need to remember to keep on loving each other as brothers. At the same time, we need to constantly reach out to new people. Hebrews 13:1-2 says, “Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” We have wonderful opportunities in relationship!
4. Keep your lives free from the love of money.
Hebrews 13:5a gives us the distinct direction: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have…” It seems that often, the less you have, the less you love it. For me, the past few years has been a season of learning to live by faith, relying on God’s provision. Freedom from the love of money is a wonderful thing. We have confidence in this freedom because of the rest of verse 5: “…because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'” What a promise! We don’t need to trust in money, because He’ll never leave us.
5. Keep yourself in connection with leaders and spiritual authority.
I am so grateful for the relationships I have with those who are wonderful examples and leaders. Hebrews 13:7 encourages us to “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” This verse tells us to do three things: remember our leaders, consider the outcome and imitate their faith. There is one definitive reason the author of Hebrews gives in verse 8: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Since we know that He does not change, we can have confidence that the outcome of our leaders’ faith will be the same outcome of our faith. It’s not about our performance, it’s about His permanence.
These five points are such a wonderful summary of my heart for the students that just graduated – and for each of us. Let’s KEEP on going after Him.
My prayer:
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:20-21