A Precious Promise!

Hebrews 13:5 gives believers priceless comfort: God says, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” In other words, no circumstance in all the world (use your imagination) can separate Jesus’ loved ones from him. The Greek in 13:5 piles up negatives—five of them—to say with fierce certainty: the Lord NEVER abandons his children.

So too, our Good Shepherd offers similar promises of his invincible care in John 10:27-29: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”

Of course, Hebrews 13 also shows that sometimes God’s people do end up in prison (v 3). And 10:32-34 speaks of believers having their homes plundered and facing intense persecution. So this letter is not naïve; there’s no promise of sheer smooth sailing. If you’re inter­ested in Jesus in order to get a comfortable ride through this rugged world, think again: that’s not the Jesus of the Bible.

God promises to be with us, not to make life easy. “… neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

When Hebrews 13:6 declares “I will not be afraid,” a poignant ques­tion follows: “What can man do to me?” And, of course, people can do a lot of terrible things to us—steal from, malign, hurt, even kill us. That’s pre­cisely what Hebrews 13:3 and Romans 8:38-39 acknowledge. But fear not, that’s all they can do: all they can do is kill you.

What people CANNOT do to you is infinitely more important: Satan and his demons and anti-Christian enemies around us cannot touch our Heavenly Father’s love for us and our secure standing as his justi­fied, redeemed, adopted, chosen, forgiven children! In Christ your inheritance is secure (it’s “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,” 1 Peter 1:4; see also John 16:33; 1 John 4:4).

So then, with thanks for these priceless promises, make sure: 1) your hope in Jesus ultimately is centered on the eternal consolations of the life to come and not on being spared trouble today, and 2) your faith is ready to face and stand up under pressure.

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