Hebrews 12:12-17 pt 2 {Lesson 12/Day 6}

Esau is a reminder to me today to see Jesus, consider Jesus, fix my eyes on Jesus. There are plenty of opportunities each day for me to squander the great reward I have by crossing the line like Esau did. In fact, the word translated “unholy” (βέβηλος/be-bē-los) in referring to Esau is better translated “profane” or we might say, “secular.” It literally means “unauthorized crossing of a threshold.” Esau tossed out his eternal and spiritual reward for the immediate gratification of the now – in his case a hot meal. He then lost access to God. He was unfit to approach God because of his blatant lack of faith. The author keeps circling back to this exhortation for us to get our spiritual priorities in order and to come alongside one another and care that others do the same. While we’re fixing our eyes on Jesus we cannot neglect to notice one another. We must lift our own dropping hands and we must notice when others are drooping too. We can’t, as my grandma used to say, be so “heavenly minded that we’re no earthly good.” This isn’t just an individual race, it’s a team sport. We absolutely must take care of one another. There’s no getting around the point in this passage. There’s none of this “my faith is personal and private” business – that’s an Esau mindset! See how that turned out for him? No, our faith is personal in that we are accountable to God to personally receive and believe faithfully in Jesus, but it is community in that we have to pay attention and strive for peace with everyone, don’t allow anyone to fail to obtain God’s grace, pluck out any roots of bitterness, and care enough to reach out to one another and into one another’s lives!