“Remember the earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to taunts and afflictions, and at other times you were companions of those who were treated that way. For you sympathized with the prisoners and accepted with joy the confiscation of your possessions, because you know that you yourselves have a better and enduring possession. So don’t throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised.” Hebrews 10:32-36 CSB
The portion of scripture prior gave us a stark warning about going back into sin and the consequences due to those who freely choose to corrupt themselves. If you did not take the time to read day 228, I recommend going back to it and pondering on those scriptural truths. The author moves on to remind the recipients of the letter about what they had to endure to proclaim the name of Christ boldly.
“For you sympathised with the prisoners and accepted with joy the confiscation of your possessions, because you know that you yourselves have a better and enduring possession.”
When the New Testament letters were written, it would cost people something to everything to follow Christ Jesus. Some people lost possessions, others went to prison, some lost their lives, and most were cast out of their communities. The early Christians understood what Jesus said about counting the cost before starting to build. They understood about loving God above mother, father etc. The earlier generation of Christians freely chose to follow the teachings and way of Jesus because they saw the reward of a relationship with God better than all things. Stop and reflect; what time did you genuinely decide to follow Jesus? Did your life change as a result of following Jesus? On what is your confidence built?
The author is reminding the original recipients that when they first followed Jesus, they joyfully suffered. They built their initial confidence on the fact that they endured suffering and persecution to follow Jesus because they had faith in the eternal reward in heaven. This belief and faith allowed them to survive the trials that came in the early days. This is why you must reflect on the start of your walk with Jesus. Jesus teaches that to follow Him, you must be willing to give all of the fleshly and earthly Things away; therefore, at that point of deciding, there should be a testimony of faith for you to stand your confidence. This lack of testimony, I believe, is the problem in the modern church; most people are born into Christianity or choose to let Jesus in their hearts so they can be part of a more admirable social circle. Sadly, this is not the Biblical truth about following Jesus. The church is soft because the church did not give up anything to be built upon. It has stayed in the world and, in most cases, embraced the world’s changes and covered it up with Jesus. From idolising worship leaders to glorifying preachers, racially segregated churches, chasing “anointing”, idolising miracles, signs and wonders. These are all things on which churches and ministries are built. They are made on individuals instead of being built on the cost of following Jesus.
The walk with Jesus requires endurance, which is built on the confidence you had when you first chose to follow Jesus. If you need perseverance and confidence, decide today to truly follow Jesus. Do what He teaches in His word and build your testimony of confidence powered by the Holy Spirit.
