Vital signs- Monday, January 1, 2024

”But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.“

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭39‬ ‭ESV‬‬

'Burn your white flags' is an aggressive way of saying ‘no surrender’/‘no turning back’! To burn your white flag means to give up even the possibility of surrender. 

Hebrews was written to believers in Jesus who faced pressure to give up. Their temptation was to buckle under the pressure of the culture around them, and return to the religiosity of their past. The author writes to remind them that Jesus is so incredibly superior to every alternative in life, that it’d be crazy to walk away from Him. Hebrews issues a stern but loving warning not to repeat the mistakes of their forefathers. 

We may not feel the pressure to return to the legalism of the Law, but we do face the temptation to give up our faith. The casualties of secularism's raid on the church lie strewn across our generation. We live in the post-evangelical, post-Pentecostal, post-everything age without the scaffolding to rebuild our faith. As people are walking away from their faith, the rise of the ‘recovering [insert brand of Christianity]' is emerging. We are facing the pressure of a culture whose views are directly at war with our faith—a soft persecution of ideals and a war of words pushing the people of God towards retreat. 

It’s only as we are reminded of how amazing Jesus is that we will see with clarity the war we’re in and brace ourselves. Hebrews is a sermon about how Jesus is better than anything our past life has to offer! Jesus is BETTER!

Burn the ships, stand firm! No turning back! 

Team Wade loves you and is praying for you❤️👊