IBS Application for Hebrews 6:12

“...so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

There’s a lot that I want to say about this one verse. It feels like this is yet another lesson that God is trying to teach me at the end of this week, to top off the emotional and spiritual highs and lows of yesterday. I know that not everyone knows what exactly happened to me yesterday, so I’d like to elaborate on that a bit before I get into what I believe God is saying to me in this verse.

I came under heavy attack by the Accuser yesterday. He began making me aware of all the stupid little things I was doing wrong throughout the day. It was bad enough that *I* started to beat myself down over it; he didn’t have to do anything on his own at that point except point out my sin. I beat myself up over every little thing, until I felt like there was no way I could ever measure up and I wondered if God would be able to use me at all because I am a chronic screw-up.

But God reminded me at the end of the day that while I cannot measure up to the standard, I don’t have to. Christ has met the standard and He wants to share His grace with me daily. He doesn’t look at me with disgust or as though I’m not worth it. He looks at me as a child of God, and co-heir with Him. He loves me as a dear friend and brother, no matter what trips me up.

Needless to say, I couldn’t help but be brought to tears over this. And as I’ve said, He spoke to me again today with this verse. The author of Hebrews tells us to be “imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” The author makes reference to figures of the Old Testament like Abraham at this point and later on in chapter 11 to provide examples of who these people we should imitate are.

What I find notable about these people is that while they are held up as examples of people with great faith and patience, not all of them always acted in faith or patience. Not all measured up all the time. Abraham in particular acted out of doubt and impatience on several occasions. But according to the author, he was held in high esteem by God for his faith and patience.

This is why I believe God is speaking to me in this verse. None of these Old Testament figures were perfect, but God looked upon them with grace after the coming of Christ, so that their failures, both great and small, would be forgiven and only the things they did right, the things they did for the Lord, would be remembered by God.

I came to realization again yesterday that God sees me the same way, because I’ve been washed in the grace of Christ. But this verse has provided even greater encouragement for me. Despite their failings, these who endured with faith and patience still inherited that which God had promised them. If these imperfect men and women were allowed such inheritance under the same promise that I have received, why should I believe that God won’t show the same grace to me? So, for my application, I will give thanks to God every day this week for His grace and pray that I would be granted peace and comfort in the knowledge that Christ has already paid for my sins.




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