WHERE HE LEADS July 20, 2020

A friend said that keeping updated with the news these days is a responsibility, no matter how grim, burdensome and depressing it is.  And I agree, for even if we feel the constant dread and stress from the pandemic, what with people we are personally acquainted with, friends of friends, celebrities and well-known personalities, government officials, and political leaders also falling victim to it, there is always that nagging thought that we have to know and be updated so we can always be on the lookout and be vigilant about ourselves and the people around us.

Experts say that fear paralyzes, and in fact it does and more: it debilitates us and disables us from thinking more logically, from using a more objective point of view on what is happening, and losing sight of our greater visions for the future.

Thankfully, we have the Word today, in the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Hebrews chapter 2, where we are reminded not to forget the things we have heard regarding the hope and faith that we are holding on to.  We learn that the Scriptures affirm the divinity and anointment of our Lord Jesus Christ; how being GOD, He humbled Himself so that He may become the captain of our salvation and perfect it through His redemptive sacrifice on the cross.

I once read a short article about the name Hebrews.  Bible scholars believe that this is a transliteration derived from the word ‘Eber’ which means, “Crossed over from the other side”, the first one of whom attributed to was Abraham, when he crossed over the Euphrates and left his old Babylonian civilization to follow GOD’s leading in Canaan.  When Abraham’s Israelite descendants settled in the Promised Land after living in Egypt for 400 years, and went through many battles to stake and establish their claim, the Philistines called them Hebrews (1 Samuel 4:6).  These people indeed crossed over many times, from Babylon to Canaan, Canaan to Egypt, Egypt to the Arabian Peninsula, then back into Canaan—where the Philistines lived, and some even beyond the Jordan River.  It therefore refers to a people who have crossed over or changed into a new way of life, who have adapted a new way of thinking—particularly since they have abandoned the deities in Babylon (in Abraham’s case), and the ones they have come to adapt in Egypt (for the Israelites), to the worship of the One True GOD, and who are now living in and seeing a new perspective in life, in a redefined view of the area where they live.

And it seems that this has not been lost to the Apostle Paul’s mind when he addressed this topic in the second chapter of his epistle.  It seems he is telling the Hebrews that Jesus Christ leads us to newness of life; and with His death and resurrection, He enabled us to cross over from our old ways of thinking, to a new one that is aligned with GOD’s will for our lives.

And this truth should not be lost on us too, if we claim to be GOD’s people.  Jesus Christ Himself declared that His enemy came only to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10); he steals our inheritance in GOD’s kingdom, he kills our hope and destroys our soul, if we allow ourselves to be led by his lies (of which Jesus also said that the enemy often does, being the father of lies).  Instead, we must let ourselves be set free and accept the gift of eternal life which our Lord has given to us, and allow Him to now lead our lives and be our Father, receiving the abundant life which He promised (in the second half of John 10:10).

Any one in training will know that a captain is one whom we must follow in whatever endeavor in order for any and all of us to get to be where we are destined or planned to be.  Indeed, regardless of the lure and temptations of the enemy, we must not think twice but cross over to the new life that only Christ can bring, and adapt a new mindset so that we can partake of the peace, hope, joy and love that He so graciously showers us.  Where He leads, may we obediently and in full assurance of faith, follow and never look back.