Occasionally when I travel I see someone wearing a t-shirt with a message about Jesus. While not my style, I stop and tell that person their shirt encourages me. This believer chose that particular shirt to reveal to fellow travelers their faith in Jesus. So the least I can do is encourage them in their wardrobe choice.

We can all use a little encouragement, but it can be hard to find. Which is one reason the writer of Hebrews pushed encouragement on the church in Rome:

See to it, brothers and and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

Our natural inclination is to drift away from the Lord. Most everyone who goes off on their own gets weird. We need the encouragement of our fellow followers of Jesus.

Encourage others toward the Lord. Encourage toward belief, toward faith, toward truth. Encourage daily, because each one of us needs encouragement every day. We read the Bible for inspiration and motivation, but hearing a word from a friend in the faith adds a layer to our soul.

Say a kind word, support someone in distress, or encourage for no reason at all. I need it and you need it. By doing so we keep the faith, and help others do so as well.

Hebrews 3 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Savannah W.

If you watched the Super Bowl this past Sunday (as a Chiefs and NFL fan my eyes were glued), you may have noticed an ad for Jesus. The organization He Gets Us sponsored the commercial. A bit weird surrounded by commercials for snack foods and mobile phones? But when I remember that Jesus appeared at feasts, weddings, and holidays, it doesn’t seem a stretch to show up on the screen of the most watched television broadcast of the year.

Jesus indeed gets us. The writer of Hebrews laid out the biblical case:

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death…For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Jesus became completely human in every way. He suffered pain and felt the angst of a broken heart. He laughed at jokes and celebrated wild kids running around. I’m sure he enjoyed a good meal, and would have been great fun at a Super Bowl party.

In so many ways Jesus is just like you and me. Of course, in other ways he’s not. Which makes following him gratifying. He understands where we are, feels our pain and frustrations, and can also do something about them. As you go through the day, think about how he gets us, and consider how Jesus might present in each situation.

Because if you open yourself to him, he just might show up.

Hebrews 2 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Sasha Freemind

As I travel internationally and engage with college students, I hear different forms of these questions a lot—How can you believe in science and God at the same time? What about evolution? Doesn’t science disprove religion?

The short answer to the question is that God created science. The writer of Hebrews describes the role Jesus played in the creation and still plays in our physical world:

In these last days God has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

While not meant as a science text, we gain insight into the role and power of Jesus as he relates to the universe surrounding us. He was present at the start of it all, and even today hold the universe together by his word. Words matter when it comes to forming galaxies. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Genesis 1:3).

I sat with a biologist recently who shared how the overwhelming complexity of the tiny slice of the world he studies leads him to greater faith in Jesus. How did this magnificent creation get here without a magnificent Creator? It’s a good thought to ponder, and an insightful question for one who doubts the connection between a gracious God and the lives we live.

The Word created and the Word sustains. Most wonderfully, we can turn to the Word as we walk through his world today.

Hebrews 1 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Eilis Garvey

Moses sent a unique order throughout the massive camp of the Israelites: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.

Paul wrote a note of thanks to a group of his benefactors: I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent.

I swim in a world of non-profit resource acquisition. My wife and I raise funds for our work, and I speak at dinners raising funds for local campus ministries. I enjoy sharing the vision of reaching out to college students and professors and engaging others in this work though giving.

I tend to dwell on how much more we need to do the work, and how much more we need to continue the work. But when I pause and reflect, I realize that I am amply supplied. The Lord’s goodness extends to me through the gracious giving of committed, faith-filled donors. Which encourages me to remain a committed donor to those places where I give my money.

These biblical snapshots of generosity motivate me. When believers work together, pooling their resources, great works can result. In the first instance, a beautiful sanctuary centered the nation’s worship on the one true God. In the second, small bands of missionaries introduced others to that one true God.

Venues for worship and missions to the unreached. Causes still worthy of our generosity—powerful enterprises to supply in ample ways.

Exodus 36 & Philippians 4 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by pina messina