Hebrew 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Have you noticed the people weaving back and forth in traffic, desperate to gain a car length in bumper to bumper traffic? I think, “What an idiot!” But I have to admit, sometimes I am that idiot! Sometimes I shift lanes too quickly and push to get ahead. Sorry for the times I have cut you off!
Have you ever watched a flock of Swallows flying together in the late afternoon, flying almost as one creature, back and forth, up and down, in and out? I would love to listen in to the chatter between the birds as they glorify the LORD with their display. They are swerving with a purpose that moves my heart in a heavenward direction, unlike the lane-shifting drivers.
I can imaging watching the traffic flowing around a city from the vantage point of a stationary drone positioned several miles above the city. The cars are small dots moving on lines, flexing and turning, crossing and stopping, seemingly all on their own. There is no awareness of the drivers or their intentions. You only see the movement, and it is mesmerizing.
We have known people whose lives seem to move with purpose. You have tracked their progress, perhaps for years, and they move slowly toward a known goal. They said they wanted to be a doctor, and their educational pursuits and recreational endeavors supported that goal. They seemed to be riding a straight line, like a car on a road from thirty thousand feet.
And then there are others that you know who seemed to weave their life in an endlessly winding path, overlapping and turning around and sideways, without any perceivable goal. Perhaps there was a time in your life when you traveled this kind of path! I had a bit of time turning and weaving when I was younger.
This kind of directionless living can happen in our spiritual journey as well. It is easy to loose focus and waste time and energy on things that don’t matter. We follow some rabbit trail far too long, and then we must retrace our steps to get reestablished on the path we should have been walking all along.
Our text today was written to encourage a group of Jewish followers of Jesus in the first century after Jesus’ resurrection. They were getting discouraged, partly because of persecution and partly because of some false teaching that was creeping into their community. So the writer pulls them back and offers them reasons to stay the course.
We must hold onto our direct-line faith. We can’t afford to get off track. And this was never more important than today. The fast talking, smooth speaking preachers who are leaving the centrality of Jesus in their preaching, can be easy to follow. Their message feeds our egos and the “everything is about me” mentality that has been bubbling through our culture for the last several decades.
We must focus on the Faithful One, not on our own swerving path, heart or mind. He is faithful; we are not! Our hope is not in a political system. It never has been successfully executed, and it never will. Only Jesus is faithful to lead.
So follow Him. Keep our focus on Him. Watch for Him. Hope in Him.