3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Whilst the previous verse spoke of the danger of personally falling away, the writer now takes the responsibility beyond the personal to the corporate. We are not only to be concerned about our own spiritual wellbeing, but also about that of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Too often Christians think that the role of exhorting belongs only to the pastor or leader, but God says that all of us are to exhort each other. This does not mean that we are to judge or criticize, but rather that we should be a cheer squad for others in the Body of Christ. When a brother is struggling, we should be there to remind him that Christ has already won the victory, and to encourage him to take hold of that victory for himself.
In the context of this passage, the area in which we should be most encouraging others is that of faith. When we try to stand alone, it can be all-too-easy for the circumstances of life to overwhelm us to the point where we first begin to question God’s promises, and eventually to declare them false. It is far easier for someone who is not going through those particular things to come alongside us and remind us again of what God has said, and of His faithfulness demonstrated both in His Word and in His dealings in our lives to this point.
The writer emphasizes that this is not just a one-off thing. We are to do it daily. It is part of the nature of human beings that we forget very easily. The things that were real and concrete to us yesterday become ephemeral and slip away so easily. The faith that rose so confidently to take hold of God’s promises yesterday can today find itself deflated and overpowered. We need reminding daily.
Of course, it is impossible to encourage another in this way without at the same time encouraging ourselves. Like so many things in our walk of faith, whatever we give out comes back multiplied.
… while it is called today …
Again, the emphasis is on the “now”. No matter how good our intentions, we cannot go back to encourage someone in the past. Whatever opportunities we missed are gone forever. We can, however, take hold of whatever fresh opportunities present themselves today. Neither can we travel to the future and encourage someone there. We have no way of knowing what may happen on the journey between now and then. We can, however, encourage our brother today, and determine in our heart that, God permitting, we will continue to encourage him tomorrow and for all the tomorrows down the line.
… lest any of you be hardened …
The people of Israel were hardened. In spite of the multiplied miracles they had witnessed, in spite of the overwhelming evidence of God’s faithfulness, they had come to a point where they not only rejected God’s promises, but they rejected God.
Very seldom does anyone who has walked with God turn away from Him overnight. Hardness creeps up on people: a little attitude that is left unchecked, a little doubt that is not challenged, an expectation of God’s goodness exchanged for an expectation of disappointment … They all add up. Just as a body that is not exercised becomes stiff and eventually incapable of exercise, so faith that is not exercised becomes hardened. All the more reason why we need to encourage each other to faith!
… through the deceitfulness of sin.
Sin is always deceitful. Deceit is the devil’s nature, and so it is natural that his works would be deceitful. Sin always comes wrapped up in pretty packages – attractive at least to those at whom the temptation is targeted. The particular sin that is being addressed here, unbelief, will disguise itself as reason. After all, surely it was reasonable that the Israelites would want to know what sort of land they were about to enter before they took the huge step of actually going in. It will call itself prudence – surely it was prudent for them to establish the strength of the forces that would be opposing them? It will pretend to be compassionate: it was the women and children who would suffer most if they faced a slaughter.
In reality, it was none of those things. It was just plain, simple, naked unbelief. God had said the land was good, and He had said it was theirs, but they didn’t believe Him.
We also need to strip our attitudes of their fancy disguises, and see whether what we find underneath is truly unbelief.