Have you noticed that being a Christian isn’t all that easy; especially if you’re really taking it seriously? There’s always something working against you and the nature of things in the world requires that you had really better stay on top of things or you might just find yourself buried under lots and lots of things.

The writer of Hebrews speaks of these things in very pragmatic terms. He speaks of how followers of Jesus, “through practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Heb. 5:14). He speaks of how they must “press on to maturity” (Heb. 5:1). He calls the Believers to “diligence… so that [they] will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb. 6:12).

Faith is not passive. Faith is a uniting of our lives with Jesus and then living out what it means to live in His life. The world is not a friend of Jesus or His Church. The world is not a friend to grace. So, when one changes worlds and comes to live in the kingdom of God, it can get messy.

Thank God for honest people, like the writer of Hebrews, who dare to speak the truth into our lives even if that truth is something we might not really want to hear. Because of the nature of spiritual warfare in the world, we don’t have the luxury of denial.

Thankfully, we have a high priest who knows more about all these things than we can know. Thankfully, we have a throne room into which we are invited to come close to the Father and find grace and mercy. Thankfully, we have a community in which we can practice our faith and train our senses to discern good and evil. Thankfully, we can grow up in Christ and live in the victory that He, our great high priest, brings into our lives. We don’t have to be sluggish Christians. Jesus is the “anchor of our soul, a hope both sure and steadfast” (Heb.6:19).