Some Practical Advice for Christians

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”  -Hebrews 10:22-25 (ESV).

The Christian lifestyle can’t be drawn up in a certain set of rules, with these rules memorized, followed and checked off as on a “doing well” list of commendations.  This practical advice given for Christians in Hebrews is in the context of a discussion of offering priestly sacrifices for sin.  Jesus, in his once-for-all sacrifice for all the sins of mankind, with the simple steps of belief and acceptance through faith, precludes our having to provide our own sacrifice for our sins.  This was done in the love Jesus manifested for us on the cross of Calvary.  Because of Him, we can enter boldly into the presence of God.  The Holy Spirit bears witness to this truth, saying:  “ ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,’ declared the Lord.  ‘I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds.’ Then He says, ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’ “ (Hebrews 10:15-17).

After assuring us that we are indeed in a position of acceptance and forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice for us, we can then gather these practical ‘things to do’ that will strengthen our Christian life.  We should see how we measure up on this Christian ‘to do’ list:

(1)  Draw near.  In drawing near to God to worship, I come with confession, with heart ‘sprinkled clean,’ and with conscience cleared before God.

(2)  Hold fast.  I do not allow doubts to weaken my faith.  My pastor who taught me so much of the Bible when I was a young Christian, Rev. Claude Boynton, often said, “Know what you believe and why you believe it.”  “He who promised is faithful!”  (Heb. 10:23).  I don’t have to doubt that what Jesus tells me is true.  He is faithful!  He is my anchor.  Therefore, I can ‘hold fast' to Him.

(3)  Stir up each other.  I have a responsibility to fellow Christians and they to me.  A group of us in our church are meeting for special prayer for our church.  We can feel the movement of the Spirit of God among us as we meet to pray earnestly for the fellowship, work and outreach ministries of our church.  This is part of “stirring each other up” to prayer and good works.  We need each other to stimulate our faithfulness and keep us on track with what is important in the Christian life.  If we major on what is important, then minor irritations will diminish and we can see the work to which God has called us.  Therefore, ‘stir each other up’ to love and good works.

(4)  Assemble together.  We have the local church congregation for many reasons, but a very important one is for providing space for Christians to assemble and worship the Lord together.  It is also a place where we can learn and encourage one another.  Gathering together for worship, prayer, instruction and fellowship becomes even more important to Christians as we see “the Day” of His reappearance drawing nigh.

With heart humbled before God, I seek now to evaluate my own Christian walk on these four practical ways to live out my Christian profession.  –Ethelene Dyer Jones  12.01.2013.