Hebrews 13

The book of Hebrews didn’t start with much of a greeting, a little more of a closing. Love each other. Hospitality. Angels unaware. Prisoners and mistreated. Marriage. Finances. Contentment. Faith. Leadership. Grace. Sacrifice. Old Covenant. New Covenant. Praise. Do good. Share. Obedience. Submission. Joy. Honor. Prayer. Psalm 118:6

The author gives practical advice for every day living. Love each other; show hospitality to strangers and friends (even messengers from God!); reach out to prisoners, maybe literally and figuratively, and those mistreated; protect marriages with love, honor, and Monogamy; don’t let income OR debt dictate your lives; be content because you have everything you need in God.

The author also gives practical advice for gospel-centered church life. Pray for those who speak God’s Words of life to you. Study and copy the lives of those who are faithful; but not in the place of Jesus, who is trustworthy and unchanging. Don’t be swept away by every different teaching that comes along. A strong heart of faith comes from God’s grace, not rules and regulations. Pray for your leaders, they will give an account to God for how they led. You will give an account to God for how you followed, with obedience or groaning.

The new altar, the cross of Christ Jesus, is not served by old covenant priests. Just as the High Priest would cast the carcass out after receiving the blood for sacrifice, so Jesus was cast out and rejected by His own people. His blood was worthy to be sacrificed on the altar of the new covenant, and He sets us apart and shares His holiness with us. 

This chapter changes me by reminding me the right way to live. Under the New Promise, right living is no longer a way to “sacrifice” my way into God’s presence. But it is a sacrifice of praise, pleasing to God—speaking of His great name continually, doing good to those around me, and sharing the Good News of Jesus.

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. “