Hebrews 3:12-19

12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold firmly till the end our original conviction. 15 As has just been said: 


"Today, if you hear his voice, 

do not harden your hearts 

as you did in the rebellion."

16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

Questions to consider:

• In what ways have you been aware recently of the deceitfulness of sin?
• List characteristics of the Israelites who did not enter the land of rest?
• Which of these characteristics describe your experience?
• Whom should you exhort (v 13) today.
• How do you respond to exhortation from others? Why?

Possibilities for prayer:

Much like the author of Hebrews, I like the idea of encouraging each other daily. It seems that we often don’t realize how much a few simple words of encouragement can mean to a person; it’s so easy to be an encourager. Today, let’s ask God to bring to mind a couple of people that would really benefit from some encouragement. Then let’s take a moment to actually encourage those people (as well as others that we meet along the way!).