Hebrews 10:24-25 – And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
THEME OF THE DAY: IT DOESN’T TAKE MUCH BUT IT ACCOMPLISHES MUCH. We live in dangerous and scary times and that includes dangerous spiritual times. For the Christian, I am not referring primarily to persecution and the threat of being martyred. Granted, that is real and happening in our world today, but not in our neighborhoods or churches today – yet. We face a serious spiritual threat described by the Apostle Paul in a letter to a young pastor named Timothy – “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:1-5a). Pay attention to Paul’s list of the signs of end times. Pay particular attention to the first one. This order of the list is not random. The first sign of end times is what causes Christians the greatest problem in their lives robbing them of the joy of walking with Jesus. It is the sin of selfishness; a focus on me, my, and mine. Paul calls it “people being lovers of self.” Then notice another characteristic in the middle of Paul’s list – “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”
The sin of selfishness is something we must fight against every day. How are we doing in the fight? Do a little battle assessment. Is all our time, energy, and resources so directed toward self-interests that the interests of others are neglected? The Apostle Paul also wrote, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). The Christian life is a serving life both in self-interests such as our families AND in the interests of others such as our spiritual family. Here is another quick assessment tool to see how we are doing in overcoming the paralyzing and joy-stealing sin of selfishness. Quickly give me a list of Christians outside your physical family that you have reached out to this week to encourage them in the Lord. The healthy Christian should be able to answer that question with confidence and ease. If we are struggling, or even have to bow our heads in regret because we cannot name a single name, get alone with the Lord, confess the sin of selfishness, and start obeying His command to love His people. He is eager to forgive our negligence and direct us to the joy-filled life of reaching out to others. And here is the glorious part about obeying today’s scripture to encourage one another. It is doesn’t take much effort and accomplishes a whole lot. Minimal effort, high return. I will use me as an example, not as the giver of encouragement, but as a receiver.
I am aware my calling from the Lord to be a pastor means carrying people’s burdens, being in the receiving mode of people’s hurts, pains, problems, complaints, criticisms, and cries for help. I know I am never off the clock, that I exist for the Lord’s people, and my personal interests secondary in my life. I realize I am to give more encouragement and help to God’s people than I will receive. I am fine with that. It is part of my calling, but I also know 1500 men a month leave the ministry due to discouragement, not from the world, but from within the church. Pastors need to be encouraged too. Not flattered, but encouraged. Now, please, don’t think I am writing this to generate a flood of encouragement. I am only illustrating how easy it is to encourage other Christians. This week I received a phone call from a dear brother who is going through tough times, but he called, not to ask for anything of me, but to check on me. How encouraging! It put sunshine in my soul on a dark day. It took maybe five minutes. I also got a phone call from a dear elderly saint, widowed, and on a heart monitoring machine. It was a call of encouragement to me. Again, it took hardly any time, just a heart moved by Christ’s love. And then, I got a card in the mail, handwritten no less – not an email or text – thanking me and my wife for spending time with the dear couple who sent it. Time investment? It took a little but it sure gave a lot. It put smiles on our faces and appreciation in our hearts. All three of those examples modeled the Lord’s command to put self-interests aside for the sake of others. Start making it a regular habit and when I ask, “How many people have you encouraged this week?”, you will smile and share a healthy list of saints you helped.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to daily fight the signs of the times in which I live – obsessive selfishness.”
QUOTE: “One of the signs we are getting close to the Lord Jesus is how little we focus on ourselves