Why should I read Hebrews 3 and 4? Read it if you need to hold firm

After each chapter I want to pause and reflect and ask this question. Why?

Over the last several days we have discovered the answer.

If you are struggling in this season of your life then this section of the letter is an encouragement and a command to ‘hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory’ and ‘hold firmly to your faith’. Accompanying this command are several practical instructions; listen and obey His voice, know His ways, watch your heart, continue to move, move into His rest, don’t work for righteousness and take care of your soul. 

But maybe someone needs to hold on to these commands today.

To ‘hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory’ 3 v 6 and to ‘hold firmly to the faith’ 4 v 14.

We don’t know exactly what struggles of persecution this community of believers were facing but they were told to hold firmly to their confidence, hope and faith. 

Yesterday the World Watch List 2024 was published and launched by Open Doors at Parliament, Westminster. Along with many church leaders there were 130 MPs present. The 10 most dangerous countries in the world in which to be a Christian in 2024 are:

1. North Korea
2. Somalia 
3. Libya
4. Eritrea
5. Yemen
6. Nigeria
7. Pakistan
8. Sudan
9. Iran
10. Afghanistan

But those are nations and it doesn’t impact us. We need stories. 

I stood amongst the crowd with tears in my eyes as I heard first-hand stories of a Nigerian Pastor who was away on a ministry trip and Islamist’s came to his house and abducted his wife and 4 girls. They were taken far away but the wife couldn’t make the journey physically so they abandoned her and continued the journey with just the girls. Months of anxiety went by and then the ransom demand came. They could have them back for an equivalent of £20,000. The Pastor sold all that they had, their house and farm, and even the clothes on their back and borrowed to get the money. Then came the day for their release and the handover of the ransom. Before their release all the girls were raped before being let go. This family are now seriously in debt and are traumatised by the evil.

Story after story.

Evil.

And I was in tears. 

Hold firmly to your faith. 

For far less a story people have abandoned their faith. 

And whatever your circumstance. Whether you are one of the 2 Christian women stripped, paraded and sexually assaulted on the streets of Manipur in India on 4 May last year, having watched your younger brother and father killed before your eyes because they tried to intervene, the video was seen all over the world on newscasts on 19 July; or your name is Saleh (not his real name) who today is on Yemen’s most wanted list because he is a Christian Pastor; or you’re an Iranian Christian who is weekly being interrogated by the police having had your home ransacked again; and we can go on and on; or you are reading this and maybe you are not being persecuted but you are thinking of giving up because the devil is constantly plaguing you; then the reason why you should read chapter 3 and 4 is this: hold firmly to your confidence, hope and faith!