But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you." And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.—Hebrews 6:9-20
I could read Hebrews 6:9-20 over and over...God is faithful and His promises are sure! Hebrews 6 tells us He is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name in that you have ministered and do minister to his saints. He is the “God Who Sees”...the God who remembers, the God who puts our tears in His bottle, and the God who is for us. He encourages us here in Hebrews to continue and not to become sluggish but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
God has blessed my family and I with a continual cloud of witnesses in our lives to imitate. We have done weekly nursing home bible studies since 1995 at 4 different nursing homes. The past 7 or more years have been spent at one where many who attend are over 90 and have been walking with the Lord for 70 plus years. Their hope is their strong consolation. Jesus IS the anchor of their soul. Two such saints come to mind...Guill and Nessie. They are easy to love. Guill is 95 and Nessie is 97. They faithfully come each week. Guill brings my daughter Anna bread each week from Panera’s. He never ever misses an opportunity to bless. He readies the room for us and fills in for Bill and teaches when we can’t get there.
When my own spirit is flagging my heart remembers not just Guill and Nessie but other saints that we have loved at different nursing homes who have also exampled for us perseverance and endurance...Louise, Jenny, Bob, Sandy, Ruth, Marie, Lois and many more. Most of whom now are in heaven rejoicing with God their Savior. I miss them, but their love for God, for me and for my family has left its mark and its example on our hearts. As the saying goes, “When I count my blessings, I count them twice.”
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