On Sunday, I preached a message from Hebrews 13 in which I talked about our priorities. I saw three main priorities in the first 16 verses.
Hebrews 13:1-3 encourages us to:
1. Keep loving those on the inside, the outside, and the outskirts.
Let’s be relentless about loving all people! The Apostle Paul speaks about the kind of love we are to demonstrate in Romans 12:9-10.”Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
2. Keep on keeping watch over our families and primary relationships.
Hebrews 13:4-“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” You can make this verse about sexual sin or you can look at it through a wider lens. What is the problem with sexual sin? The problem with sexual sin is that it destroys relationships. Our spouses and children and parents and siblings are given to us by God, and we are responsible to do all we can to protect, preserve, and strengthen those relationships.
3. Keep seeking God above all else.
Hebrews 13:5-“Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.” We may say we believe that, but are we are of God’s presence in and around us on a daily basis? If we ramped up our God-consciousness, we would have the amazing confidence displayed in verse 6 when the writer says, “I am confident in the Lord. He is my helper. He is always with me, so I won’t be afraid, and no one can do anything to me that will thwart God’s purposes.” Imagine going throughout your daily life with that conviction?
Look at the beginning of verse 5: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.” When God is first above all else we will be content and won’t need to seek after the things of the world.
Verse 15 is how we approach worship as believers. Worship isn’t just what we do on Sunday, but it is the preoccupation of the life of one who seeks to make sure Christ is exalted in their life. “Therefore, we continually offer a sacrifice of praise.”
Verse 14 gives us so much motivation. “For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” Keeping an eternal perspective helps us stay focused on what is really important.
As you evaluate your priorities, can you throw some things away? Will you choose to keep the things that really matter?
