(S)

13 Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters.^[a] 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! ³ Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.

⁴ Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.

⁵ Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,

“I will never fail you.
    I will never abandon you.”^[b]

⁶ So we can say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper,
    so I will have no fear.
    What can mere people do to me?”^[c]

⁷ Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.

⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. ⁹ So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.

¹⁰ We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle^[d] have no right to eat. ¹¹ Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. ¹² So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. ¹³ So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore. ¹⁴ For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.

¹⁵ Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. ¹⁶ And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

¹⁷ Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.

¹⁸ Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do. ¹⁹ And especially pray that I will be able to come back to you soon.

²⁰ Now may the God of peace—
    who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great Shepherd of the sheep,
    and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—
²¹ may he equip you with all you need
    for doing his will.
May he produce in you,^[e]
    through the power of Jesus Christ,
every good thing that is pleasing to him.
    All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

²² I urge you, dear brothers and sisters,^[f] to pay attention to what I have written in this brief exhortation.

²³ I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released from jail. If he comes here soon, I will bring him with me to see you.

²⁴ Greet all your leaders and all the believers there.^[g] The believers from Italy send you their greetings.

²⁵ May God’s grace be with you all.

(O)

One of my very favorite images is vs 2. “Show hospitality to strangers, for some have entertained angles withouth knowing it”. What a mind blowing thought that we may have had interactions in our life with angels. This verse always comes to my mind whenever I am somewhere where there is less fortunate, homeless individuals. or someone that just looks down on their luck. Gives me a little extra incentive, not that I should need it, to go and talk with them or see how they are doing.

This chapter is filled with practical, good advice on how to live our lives. Let’s review them

-love each other as brothers and sisters

-show hospitality to strangers

-remember those in prison

-remember those being mistreated

-give honor to marriage

-be faithful in marriage

-don’t love money

-be content

-follow the example of others faith

-continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God

-obey your spiritual leaders

-do not be attracted by strange new ideas

The last point goes on to say that our strength comes from God’s grace. In our lives, especially right now with the Covid thing going on, it is easy to see many are panicked. It’s so easy to latch onto things to give us comfort. We may put our trust in wearing masks, or by wiping everything we touch, or just not going out into the world. We put our hope in the flood of information that is out there, much of it contradicting itself. While all those things i just mentioned are great safeguards, it is not what we put our hope into. It is by God’s grace we are able to face another day of uncertainty. Despite what the truth is out there about the virus, the one truth we need to lean on is the Truth of the Word. Soak it in, meditate on it, pray, find comfort in God’s word. It has never changed. It is a rock steady anchor for our anxious souls.

Lord today we face so much uncertainty, so much information we don’t know how to process, so much anxiety, anger and confusion. Help us all to reset and focus in on your Word and your Truths. Help us to find comfort and peace and trust in You. Jesus, help everyone to make wise choices to stay safe. In Jesus name, amen.