We closed the service last week singing, “I have decided to follow Jesus.  I have decided to follow Jesus.  I have decided to follow Jesus.  No turning back!  No turning back!

           Why not turn back?  Because Jesus is better.  He is better than anything you have had in previous experiences.

           But the pressure is still there.  How can I cope with these pressures?  I can only give you what the writer of Hebrews gave the Jewish Christians he faced.  Remember, they had lost homes, all they owned, and many of their friends were in prison.  We may be tired of doing what is right, discouraged by all the little things that eat away at us, feeling burnout because we are not only trying to do spiritual ministry, but our life is full of sports, school, work, home and community service.

           The writer of the book of Hebrews wants to help his readers.  He wants them to experience the fullness of the Christian life.  He wants them to be fruitful and not go back to the old ways. 

           How does he think they will stand against the pressure they face?  What do they need to know or do to hold on to Christ in light of the great pressures they were under?  What help can he give them to aid them at this time?

           As I share his advice with you, I want you to be aware that the writer of Hebrews is no armchair theologian.  He will give it straight and will not gloss over the difficulties that his readers will face.  Let me share with you three major ideas that the writer of Hebrews offers to his readers.

           The first idea is for us to believe that no matter what is happening today, what we are doing will be rewarded in the end.  Right now, what we are dong may seem mundane or repetitious.  We may think backing out is better than stepping up.  What helps us make it through is our belief that what we are doing today will be rewarded in the end.

           This is what the writer of Hebrews tells the Jewish people he is encouraging. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. (Heb 10:36).  This is as straightforward a statement as you will hear.  You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

           In order to do this, we need to have two elements in our lives.  Hope and faith.  We need to get our eyes off our shoelaces and look up.  In basketball one of the marks of a good dribbler is the ability to look down the court and see what is happening in front of the dribbler.  This enables the ball handler to see the court, make a pass, or know that the drive to the basket is there. 

           Some people will never look you in the eye.  Kids who have done wrong often look down.  I think its good for parents to have the kids look you in the eye when you are talking to them.  Looking down all the time will make you trip.

           Hebrews 11:1 starts with an important statement on this issue. 1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (Heb 11:1).  This is an issue, sometimes we are doing what we are doing with no “hope for.”  We are not hoping for anything so we are a candidate for burnout.  We cannot be certain of what we do not see because we are not looking for anything.

           The writer is clear that we should look for God’s reward and his blessing.  This is not wrong.  We look forward to the day that God will say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.  Enter into the joy of the Lord.”

           As a matter of fact, if you are not looking for a reward, then you are not pleasing God.  6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Heb. 11:6). 

           Noah is a good example. 7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. (Heb. 11:7).

           Jericho is another. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. (Heb. 11:30).

           Jesus is another. 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Heb. 12:1-3).

           The way to stay on course is to see what is unseen.  The part that may be unseen is the eternal value of your life and ministry.  Don’t go back.  Keep on to your reward.

           The second idea is for us to determine to do what is right no matter how wrong our world is around us. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees! 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. 14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no-one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no-one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no-one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterwards, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears. (Heb 12:12-17).

           The idea that the writer of Hebrews is giving to his readers is that sin can cause us to go back.  Notice, “make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy.”  This is a prescription for life!  Bitterness in our lives will spread to others.  We are to be on guard.  Avoid sexual immorality or godlessness.

           When we understand it, many of us will identify with Esau being a godless man.  This phrase does not mean a man without God.  Instead of godless, some translations use the word profane.  This word describes a threshold that might go into a house.  Everyone can cross the threshold.  People step on the threshold.  There is nothing special about a threshold.  Nothing sets it apart.  All people walk on it or across it.

           Brought into the spiritual realm, a godless or profane person is one who treats holy things as if they were ordinary.  They don’t see anything special in things that are special.  They make the sacred equal to the secular.

           The opposite of profane is sacred.  Something that is sacred is special, it is set apart.  We treat the sacred things with care.

           Esau had a special inheritance as oldest son.  This inheritance was his as the oldest son.  But he gave it away for a meal.

           I want us to understand the real situation here.  Esau was really hungry.  29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.) 31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” 33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. (Ge 25:29 -34).

           I don’t know how close to death he really was.  The Jews of that day saw what he did as profane.  They believed he should not have sold the birthright for food.  They believed that he should have endured the suffering of hunger in order to gain the reward of the inheritance.  They saw him treating the inheritance given as oldest son as being less important than a good meal.

           Many people give up the chance for spiritual blessing for a day in the sun.  They won’t spend an hour impacting children for eternity in order to have the freedom to go to the beach.  They won’t commit themselves to spiritual ministry because they want the freedom to do their own thing.  For many, serving God is the same as volunteering for anything in the community.  They see no difference, they miss the holy, the importance of it.  This was Esau’s problem and it is also ours.  We miss out, not only on the reward that is ours, but the importance of following Jesus. 

           No wonder the Jewish people were thinking of falling back.  They lost sight of the importance and the reward of following Christ.

           I don’t understand how Christians live sometimes.  We raise our children.  We have 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 365 days in a year and about 18 years to raise our children.  About 1/3 of the time is spent in sleep, which leaves us with about 12 years with them.  If we subtract the time that they are in school, which might average 8 hours a day including travel, we are down to a lot less time.  So what do we fill our children’s time with?  We involve them in sports.  The coaches practice three to five times a week for at least an hour a time.  We let them watch television.  We want them to play and do homework. 

           But the most important thing, their life with Jesus, is often neglected.  We don’t come with our children to sunday school nor do we have them in youth group.  We feel an hour a week is good.  Many spend no time with their children in prayer or reading their Bible.  We skip services to be with family or to get work done around the house.  So our children think Christianity is attending church once a week.  They have no personal relationship with God.  We hope they will get it later, but I have to tell you, now is the time to be building a Christian relationship, not sometime down the road.  But the truth is, our kids are much like us.  We are passing our value system on to the next generation and I can tell you this.  Under normal circumstances, the commitment of second generation Christians is usually lower than that of the first generation.   We are a profane generation who does not see the importance of living for Christ.

           The third idea is for us to live a life of love in the time we have remaining on this earth. 1 Keep on loving each other as brothers. (Heb. 13:1).

           Several examples of love are given in chapter 13.  Practice hospitality, visit prison, do good and share with others, pray for the writer. 

           The love that is encouraged here is very specific.  It is love for each other.  We are to love everyone, but we especially need to love other Christians.

           Some people will say to me, “Ed, preach it. I want people to love me.  I need it.”  And you do.  But this verse is not for others, it is for you.  You are to love others. 

           One reason many slip away is that they are still self-centered.  Christ died so that we would not live for ourselves, but for Him.  We put up walls to other Christians.  When they offer to help, we turn them down.  Or we wait for them to come and love us and sit back and do not reach out to them. 

           One reason for burnout is burnout.  People who are burnt out stop ministering, creating a chain reaction of extra weight on the shoulders of others.  The hand says to the foot, you don’t need me so the foot travels around carrying nothing.

           But the body grows as each one does his part in love.  I do believe that some people take on too much.  But often the first thing we drop is the spiritual.  I do believe that some people take on too much in the church.  We need to set some boundaries for ourselves.  And we need to love one another.

           The writer of Hebrews gives these three major ideas to help his readers along.  Idea #1:  Expect a reward.  Ideas #2: Do what is right all the time.  Idea #3: Love Christians. Take up your part and shoulder the weight.  

           When we hold on to these, we have what some would call a ministry mindset.  A mindset is something on which our mind is settled.  It is a part of us.  The Christian who doesn’t turn back expects a reward, will do what is right no matter what the circumstances and will reach out to other Christians to love and support them.