"Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed"(Heb. 12:12-13).

The Hebrew letter was written to Jewish Christians who were contemplating giving up their faith to return to the Law of Moses. As the writer exhorts them and explains that in every way Jesus is better, he tells them that they cannot afford to be discouraged by persecution from those around them. As the people of God today, we must focus on the things God told them to keep them from discouragement and apply them to ourselves so that we do not garner such a fate.

We've all seen the discouraged Christian. He mopes into the building, head hanging low, and sneaks out before services end. He may not feel like singing, so he doesn't. Over time, we don't see him at church at all. We may call and ask him what's wrong, and he'll give us an excuse, but no real answer. The truth is that all of us are discouraged at times. But how do we keep ourselves from losing faith and help others from wandering from the truth?

The answer lies here in Hebrews. We must "strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees." There are times when we run low on spiritual gas and we need someone else to come refuel us. Often our spirits are helped by simply talking to our brethren and sharing our struggles with them. At other times it does us good just to get our noses in the Book. Many a discouraged man has been enlivened by a good talk about Heaven or why he became a Christian. We need to remember the obligations we have to our brothers and sisters who might be discouraged, and remember to strengthen our own hanging hands.

The Hebrew writer also tells us to "make straight paths for your feet." It may be that the reason for our weariness is that we're not traveling the easiest path! When we are discouraged, we need to evaluate how we're living to make sure that we don't need to change something we're doing. It will be hard for us to remain spiritual when our best friends are worldly-minded. Perhaps we ought to rethink those relationships and be sure that we have straight paths for our feet. A bad attitude, a bad habit, or a selfish tendency may need fixing before we can get back on our feet. Let's not hesitate to make the corrections our lives need so that our paths are straight.

At the end of the Galatian letter, Paul told the Christians in those churches, "Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart"(Gal. 6:9). There is a natural tendency for us to tire in our efforts to serve God, but we must fight it. One of the saddest truths about the human condition is our propensity to begin an effort with zeal and determination and then flare out before the task is done. Paul says that one surefire way to keep on the right path is to remember why you're doing what you're doing. Remember that in due season we are going to reap the fruits of our labor here, as long as we don't get discouraged and fall away! In 2 Timothy 2:8, Paul says "For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day." The reason Paul could keep going through stonings and beatings and quarrels and shipwrecks is that he knew that God would take care of him when all of it was over. If we can only remember who we have believed, it will make it easier for us to continue to believe and be fruitful in the vineyard of the Lord.

As we walk and grow together, let us be diligent to notice those "hands which hang down" among our brethren and do what we can to speak words of encouragement to them. Let us be wary of ourselves, lest we fall into a similar state of lethargy and our zeal flags before God. May we all remember where we're going and that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us"(Rom 8:18). ___Jacob Hudgins