"See to it, brothers, 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. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first." Hebrews 3:12-14 (NIV)
The unknown author of the book of Hebrews is telling the scattered Christians not to turn away from the true and living God. He warned them not to develop a sinful unbelieving heart during the hard times that they were enduring after the death of Christ. He encouraged them to hold on to the faith that they had when they first believed.
It is not hard to find a person who claims that they used to believe until something happened, like the death of a loved one or the development of a serious health problem, that caused them to lose faith and become a non-believer. What is hard, is not becoming one of those people ourselves when we face very difficult, faith testing times. Jesus said, "No one who puts his hand the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62) Jesus also said, "... but he that endureth to the end shall be saved." (Matthew 10:22) Giving up when the going gets hard is never looked upon very highly. The world has a saying, "Winners never quit, and quitters never win." We are winners, we have already been assured of the victory. (Romans 8:37; 1 Corinthians 15:57; & 1 John 5:4) Don't give up the faith. And, let us do what we can to encourage others to also keep the faith.
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