In this post, we will be studying Hebrews 12:1-7...
"1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,"
We are surrounded by people. They are always watching us to see what we say, do, how we think and how we act. These people are all witnesses to who we are, or at least to who they perceive us to be from what they see and hear from us. We need to get rid of any sin that is in us that they can see. We need to get rid of any action or speech that could even be perceived as sin in our lives, whether it is or not, so that they don't think we have sinned in any way.
If we accidentally sin, or even appear to have sinned in their eyes and ears, we need to correct it immediately in their eyes and ears so they can see that our Father has mercy on us all and will forgive us all if we repent and ask for forgiveness of those sins. This can be shown in asking forgiveness from those we offended and making restitution for those sins towards them as well. We all have sinned and come short of the glory of our Father.
"Lay aside every weight", lay aside every sin, because those things will beset us in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. We need to be patient with ourselves and with others, and walk the life we were meant to walk, through following God's Word just like our Savior Yeshua did, so that others will see Him through us.
"2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
We need to look to Yeshua. He is the author, the beginning, the writer, of our faith. He is the finisher of our faith. Yeshua was there from the beginning, before the earth and the heavens were ever made. He is the very Torah of God made in the flesh. He is our Salvation, our perfect sinless Sacrifice for our sins of transgressing God's Word. He is our hope, our filling up of the Word of God. Yeshua walked Torah all of His life here on earth.
Yeshua became our penalty for our sins so that our sin debt would be paid in full. Yeshua rose and ascended so that we can live eternally with Him. He did this because He knew the joy that He would bring for us and for our Father in Heaven... our salvation from death eternal through His Sacrifice in our place.
Yeshua did not despise the Word of God (Torah). He walked Torah every day... in fact, He is Torah (the very Word of God). Yeshua despised the shame that sin brought to us and took our punishment and He suffered our death for our sins. He took our place. He didn't take our place and suffer our punishment and death so that we can continue to disobey God's Torah.
"3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds."
Consider ALL that Yeshua did for us, all of the examples He gave us through His walk here on earth. Think about ALL He went through for us, because of our sins. He suffered being called a sinner, even though He NEVER sinned. He taught us the true meaning of Torah and took away the oral laws of the forefathers which they had added to Torah thereby taking away the beauty of God's Torah by making it legalistic and burdensome. Yeshua showed us Torah is not burdensome, it is Light, in every meaning of the word.
"4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin."
Consider this, we have not yet resisted opposing forces to the point of our death. We have not yet fought against sin to the point of our death. But Yeshua did... and what is sin but the transgression of the law (Torah) of God?
"5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:"
We have forgotten what God said to us as children (to the Israelites in the dessert). We have forgotten God's Torah, as He originally gave it to us on Mt. Sinai. Remember how God disciplined the Israelites for not following His Torah. He chastened them and disciplined them and corrected them when they disobeyed His Word. They kept following God despite others who didn't. They kept following God even though they sinned because God forgave them of those sins once they truly repented.
Some still disobeyed and didn't take it to heart. They weren't truly loving and following God in their hearts, and they were destroyed, just as those who don't truly follow God will eventually die an eternal death in the end unless they circumcise their heart and truly follow God.
Don't give up just because you are punished for disobedience. Accept the rebuke of God, repent, and continue to follow Him.
"6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."
If God did not love you, He would not discipline your. If God is not disciplining you, rebuking you, then you are not truly His son or daughter in the first place. He corrects His children and leads them on the paths of righteousness (His Torah) for His Name's sake.
"7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?"
If we endure discipline and rebuke, if we learn from it and not turn aside from it, if we repent of our disobedience and turn and follow Him and His Ways, then we will be dealt with by God as His children. God shows us mercy and grace. If He sees we are truly repentant and sorry for disobeying Him, His punishment will not be as harsh as it would have been had we not listened to His correction.
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