PURSUING BETTER THINGS

SCRIPTURE:  Therefore, leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.” (Hebrews 6:1 NASB)  

Do you find the many juxtapositions in Scripture compelling? God’s Word is full of verses that place side by side two comparative sets of conditions or principles. We are urged to pursue the one, and forsake the other, for one will deny His lordship in our lives, while the other will promote His image in us. Proverbs especially magnifies such comparisons—between foolishness and wisdom, between “strategies for effective living” and “things God hates,” and so on. (The Living Bible: Life Application, pp. 925, 927) Sometimes the juxtapositions center around things we should minor on versus those areas in which we should be making strong advancements, especially if we’ve been saved for some time.  Our Savior desires that we pursue what He has freely made available to us who are His.  (1 Cor. 2:12)   Are your desires for spiritual maturity  in alignment with His? Against a backdrop of Christ-honoring pursuits in verses 1-8 of Hebrews, chapter 6, we get an opportunity to reflect on what the Spirit considers the “better things” that the Lord desires us to appreciate and pursue.  

Let us consider some of the “better things” cited in verses 9 – 20 of Hebrews, chapter six.  Can you fully appreciate that none of our ministry assignments, which we’ve done out of a pure heart of devotion toward our Savior will ever be forgotten by Him?  (Heb. 6:10) Ofttimes in life our commitment to working, even “as unto the Lord, rather than for men,” will scarcely be recognized; yet this fact in itself endorses the principle that our precious Savior must ALWAYS be the One for whom we most EARNESTLY work and seek to please-- in church and the secular marketplace! Such a mindset of CHRIST-HONORING SERVICE strongly promotes the “full assurance of hope until the END.”  (6:11)  Our LORD, who gave ALL for us,  desires that we PRESS ON, deriving STRONG encouragement from the fact of His unchangeableness!

PRAYER:  Dear Father, we  thank and praise You  for Jesus’ willingness to be the believers’ Great High Priest and Forerunner, that our soul may have in Him an Anchor like nothing and no one else in this universe can provide! AMEN!

(By Denise Diggs)