Don't Stop Believing (Hebrews)

“Don’t stop believin’…Hold on to that feelin’…”

I know that after reading those two lines you can hear Journey’s popular song in your head. Everyone knows those lines. My wife and sister recently sang a karaoke version of this song on a cruise, and the whole crowd joined in. A few weeks ago I heard some junior high girls singing it at the top of their lungs while riding through the Target parking lot. Like I said, everyone knows the words to “Don’t Stop Believing.”

But did you know that the phrase “Don’t stop believing” is also one of the major themes of the book of Hebrews? It might not use those exact words, but the point is clear!

The book of Hebrews alternates between sections of exposition and exhortation. After the author teaches about Jesus, he then takes time to exhort his audience based on that teaching. The main message of the teaching sections is that Jesus is our great high priest (1:3; 2:17; 4:14-15; 5:5-6, 10; 6:20; 7:15-17, 23-28; 8:1-6; 9:11-14; 10:11-14, 21). The main exhortation comes by way of five “warning passages” (2:1-4; 3:7-4:13; 5:11-6:20; 10:26-39; 12:14-29), and all five warnings make a very similar plea: DON’T STOP BELIEVING!

This is made clear by phrases such as, “We must therefore pay even more attention to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away” (2:1), “Watch out, brothers, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that departs from the living God” (3:12), “We want each of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the final realization of your hope, so that you won’t become lazy, but imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and perseverance” (6:11-12), “But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and obtain life” (10:39), and, “See that there isn’t any immoral or irreverent person like Esau, who sold his birthright in exchange for one meal” (12:16).

There are also several pleas to “hold on,” “hold firmly,” and “hold fast” (3:6, 14; 4:14; 6:18; 10:23). The author is begging his audience to not let go of Jesus and the commitment they have made to Him. They need to persevere. They need to keep on keepin’ on.

And today I want to encourage you to do the same thing. I would never tell you that following Christ is easy. Jesus Himself never told anyone that either. In fact, He told His disciples, “You will have suffering in this world” (John 16:33). Anyone want to say amen?

But in the midst of the tests, trials, and temptations that we go through, we can’t give up. We can’t stop believing. Why? Because Jesus is ready and willing to help us. Hebrews 2:18 tells us that, “Since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested.” Hebrews 4:15 tells us that, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin.”

This journey we call life might challenge us, but God is using those challenges to change us.

Let me leave you with this thought from Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.”