Encourage

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.                        Heb. 3.17

There is an ongoing work that every believer ought to subscribe to. And this is the task of encouraging one another. We are constantly beset by the deceitfulness of sin. It is an insidious, ever-present threat and we are to be alert to it at all times, and ready to give each other the encouragement to resist sin and to journey on in the ways of love and goodness.

We are encouraged to do this daily, that is, to be habitual in our practice, to live a lifestyle as encouragers. Today is the here and now. This is where I live. Yesterday has gone and I would be foolish to cling to the life that passed with the close of yesterday. Tomorrow has not yet arrived. Let me not vainly attempt to live in what is not yet. No, today is the arena in which I live out this life and, as long as it is called “Today”, I am exhorted to encourage my fellow travellers, to work to ensure that they do not become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

I am tempted to suggest the “softness of righteousness” as the way to overcome the hardness of sin’s deceit, but there is nothing soft about love and righteousness. It might appear gentle, but it needs to be strong, secure and ever prevailing. The call to be an encourager is a hard call. Yet, I receive the call. I would not have it otherwise.

Lord God,

May I today live to encourage my fellow believers. May we, together, journey the road of love and truth. And may we know Jesus as our constant companion. Together let us overcome the hardness of sin’s deceit.               Amen.