WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 · VERSE OF THE DAY
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
— Hebrews 10:24-25
Context
Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians in Rome or its vicinity, likely in the mid-60s AD, right as Nero began blaming Christians for the city's fire. These weren't people sleeping in on Sundays — they were vanishing because being known as a Christian could cost you your job, your family ties, or your life. The letter's whole arc is addressing quiet drift: people hedging, distancing themselves, stopping the visible association. The author isn't scolding attendance metrics. He's watching people ghost each other under imperial pressure, and he knows isolated believers don't last.
What it's actually saying
The Greek word translated 'consider' (katanoeō) means something closer to 'study' or 'pay close attention to' — it's observational, not transactional. You're meant to notice what would actually provoke love and good works in this specific person, not just show up. 'Stir up' (paroxysmos) is where we get 'paroxysm' — a sharp prod, sometimes irritation. Not comfort. The charge is active. Then verse 25: 'not neglecting to meet together' is literally 'not abandoning the gathering.' The word for 'meeting' (episynagōgē) appears only twice in the New Testament — it's not about routine; it's about the deliberate assembly of people who could just... not. 'As is the habit of some' — the author knows it's already happening. People are already gone. The 'Day drawing near' is likely the anticipated Roman crackdown, not the second coming. The stakes are immediate.
How to apply it today
Pick one person in your life who shares your faith and ask yourself: what would actually provoke them toward love or good work right now — not generically, but them specifically? Maybe it's a text acknowledging something hard they're in. Maybe it's a question that takes them seriously. Maybe it's showing up when it's inconvenient. Then do that one thing this week. The point isn't maintaining a social schedule. It's not letting people disappear when the cost of being known goes up.
Sit with this
Think of someone you used to see regularly in a faith context who's gone quiet. Write down their name and one thing you actually know about what they're carrying right now. What's one small, specific way you could show up for them this week — not to fix anything, just to make disappearing harder?
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