So this week we have been talking about fellowship, how it involves motivating each other to live out their faith as well as a gathering together of believers. Today we will look at the last little section of Hebrews 10:24-25, where we are told we need to be “encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” One thing I have noticed is that in the Bible there are a lot of either progressions, or texts where the last thing mentioned is an outcome of the previous, this is one of those cases.
Walk Alongside
The biggest question is what does it mean to encourage one another? Some ways that encourage is defined is to give support, confidence, hope, advice, to help or stimulate or develop. To encourage one another we essentially are coming along and walking alongside each other and we move closer to Christ. Think of it like this, remember back when you were in school, or maybe you are still in school, how at times working on your homework and studying often was easier when you were working with someone instead of being by yourself? The reason is because the other person will encourage you, they will help you to push forward; just like you will do for them. I will point out that while in the long term encouragement is positive there is a level of accountability that comes with it. Much like your study partner will hold you accountable to be paying attention in class, take notes, and review on your own; in fellowship with other believers we are to hold each other accountable by pointing out, in love, when each other slips up as well as checking on how we are handling difficult times of great temptation. You see it is through accountability that we find where we each struggle and need to be encouraged the most; if I am going through a time of great temptation that is when I need a brother in Christ to come alongside and encourage me to hold strong to my faith and to keep my eyes turned to God.
The Approaching Day
The author of Hebrews finishes off these two verses by stating that the need for fellowship is going to be greater as we approach the return of Christ. When you look at what the Gospels and other passages in the Bible mention about Christ’s return you can see why. As we “see the Day drawing near” we will see morals and godly values going out the door; sin will be the norm. Sound familiar? You see with our society and culture looking less and less towards God and focused more on what pleases them, sin is becoming more and more acceptable. As Christians we are to be set apart, as we saw last week not to conform to the ways of the world, in order to do so we need that fellowship with other believers because it is through fellowship that we are able to keep from becoming more like the world and less like Christ.
