But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (Hebrews 3:13).
This is one of my favorite verses. It reminds me of several things…
We all need encouragement…every day! Life in this sinful world is discouraging and frustrating. It is easy to get down on ourselves, to see our problems instead of our blessings, to drift away from the Lord and into selfish sin. We need others around us who can inject a little courage in us from time to time. Someone to give us an encouraging word or an arm around our shoulder or a prayer when we need it. Perhaps that is why it is so important to choose good friends and good company. Otherwise the pull toward discouragement and sin is too easy.
We all are called to encourage others…every day! It is one thing to say we need encouragement every day. “Amen! I sure do. How come people don’t encourage me enough?” It is another thing to say we need to be encouraging others each day. We so often focus on what others are doing to us rather than how we are treating others. Am I a refreshment to others? Do I give encouraging words? Do I put my arm around another’s shoulder? Do I lift up others in prayer? I am always reminded of Proverbs 11:25, A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. The Bible always focuses on our responsibility to others rather than giving us permission to complain about how others are treating us.
Sin pulls us, deceives us, and hardens us. The pull towards sin is constant. Our sinful nature still exists and still battles our spirit. As Paul says in Romans 7, I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing.
So sin constantly pulls at us and entices us. And when we give in, we find that it also deceives us. The pleasure is short-lived. The thrill quickly fades away. And we are left with the guilty conscience, the sick stomach, the binding addictions, and the shattered relationships of sin. Unfortunately, instead of turning back to God, we grow tired of the struggle and give in. We grow hardened in our attitude and in our heart. We begin to criticize others for not helping us enough. We begin to criticize God for not rescuing us enough. We begin to rationalize our sin and grow comfortable in its darkened embrace. Then we are in trouble. Because our hearts are closed off to the voice of God and the encouragement of others.
Sin is a destructive force; thus we must battle it every day. And we need brothers and sisters around us to encourage us in the fight.
Have you encouraged someone today? They really need it.