Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:23-25
One of the greatest powers in a persons life is expectation. Unfortunately expectation doesn’t always show up in a positive way. As much as it can be a great initiator of success, it also can initiate limitations. Think about it, we speak with expectation every day in both the negative and the positive. You hear people say, I’m expecting a delivery today of something I ordered, I can’t wait until it gets here! But you can also say, I’m expecting a delivery today of something I ordered, but I know it won’t get here. No matter what I order, it always arrives late. Now both of these statements begin the same, with the delivery of a package, but the expectation for them is different and when it arrives, that difference will change how the receiver sees that package.
The one who’s waiting with great expectation, all day is anticipating not only its arrival but the item itself, and how much it will be appreciated and used. The other one who’s waiting with expectation, all day is confirming that whatever has happened in the past will happen again, and that is, the package will not arrive as promised. They don’t even think about what’s inside the package, so even if the package arrives as promised, the item inside is overshadowed by negativeness of the entire day so it is not truly appreciated or enjoyed. This is the mindset that keeps many Believers living in the past and seeing no hope in the future.
Today’s verse is a reminder that things have changed, even the way we worship. But look what it says, we aren’t to hold onto the way we worship, but Who we worship and what happens when our trust is in Him alone. It tells us to keep our eyes off ourselves and seek Holy Spirit to motivate us with creative ways that will open doors of opportunity to see the Lord work through us. To reach out and show the love of Jesus to others who have needs we can meet. That meeting in a particular building with a large number of people, isn’t as important as meeting together to worship and pray to the Author and Finisher of faith itself. Remember Matthew 18:20 says that wherever two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name He is there in the midst of it all.
I want us to draw our attention, to what the great expectations of this verse is; the hope that Jesus said He would return. The signs He gave us so we would know when it is near are being seen every day! Friends even the Believers with a negative mindset believe He is coming again. But I wonder if all we think about is what the world and circumstances have done to us, are we missing all the blessings and promises that Jesus wants to keep until He comes for us? Yes things have changed, but I have great expectations that God will show us how much more effective His Church can be when we use what He has provided for us in new and different ways.
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