We Are Persuaded Better Things Of You

Hebrews 6:9-12 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and
labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have
ministered to the saints, and do minister.
And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Paul had seen so many turn the Lord down; he had encountered every type of people and every type of reaction; he had seen so many start with the Lord, who had felt His touch but had seen some serve for only a season. He saw the betrayal of God just like Judas had done Him. He had seen people quit and let God down. To this church he said we are persuaded better things of you.

How much confidence does God have in you? In me? Do we move forward and continue to grow; have we set a goal that we will be better tomorrow, next month, next year than we are today? Paul was not saying to this church that they were better than anyone else. He was simply telling them he was persuaded that they could see better things tomorrow than today and today than yesterday.

The Christian experience is a moving up. It is not something we accomplish one day and then it's done. We cannot be at a standstill; we are moving one direction or another, whatever that is. We cannot say there is no point in growing for the Lord anymore. The Christian life takes daily effort, daily inspection of life, and a daily following of the Lord. Paul put confidence in many people and had it shattered. The devil probably got to Paul more than once and asked him what was the use in going on. Why try? But Paul had to go on.

There is no place to say I'm the best I can be. I am far from perfect; all of us are. There is a goal set before us. We've made it thus far simply because we put priority on a daily life with the Lord. We must improve; we can work on prayer, work on service, work on living for the Lord. Determine to be a better person for the Lord. The Lord know how we are–slothful–dilatory AND He know we can get closer to Him. We can move to higher ground and have a dearer experience with God in things that accompany salvation. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and
labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name. Paul counted on them to do better with their responsibilities.

God is obviously good to us. How good are we to Him? It's scary to think about. Can we treat Him better? Paul says I am persuaded of better things of you. Be better than before. Be better at service. Be better. We don't do it brag in ourselves or to compare ourselves to someone else or feel better than others. A basketball player can get a basket as long as it's at eye level; we all can. When they height of the goal is raised it takes practice to make a basket. God raises the goal so we'll grow. He wants us to be higher. Yes times get harder. Yes it requires better praying, better service to God. Though others may have thrown in the towel, WE DON'T HAVE TO. Doesn't it make you feel good that you can be better to God?

The cross of today is to condition us for tomorrow's. Watch what we brag about. That may be where we are put to the test. Tomorrow requires diligence. We must stand fast. We must work harder than before. These are trying times. It is a greater challenge. Now is not the time to be slothful. There is incentive before us. God knows everything we have done in his name; nothing is overlooked. What we face requires more dedication. If we have lasted this far, it is because of God's help; it's not of ourselves. To those who have gone back to the world, God expected better; He was not slothful in taking care of them. Everyone who is saved CAN MAKE IT. It's up to us to trust Him.

It is a compliment to God for Him to say to us I am fully persuaded of better things in you. He sees a better, closer, stronger tomorrow for us that today IF WE ARE WILLING AND READY TO DO IT.

And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. See the encouragement? Show it. Do it. Reach out. Do not be slothful.

Paul was saying to them "hang in there." That is one of the most used phrases around. You say it to yourself. I say it to myself. We say it to each other. God is saying to us "hang in there." We can tell each other because God has told us. Everyone has the full assurance to make it to the end. Everyone of us can make it. God knows we all can be better tomorrow than we were today no matter what through faith and patience.

No team has ever gone to the game saying we'll just do it any old way and win. They move forward and keep pushing. When we keep our eyes on the Lord and what He does, then tomorrow won't be as hard because we will have prepared ourselves today.

Did you ever think you could make it this far, this long? We have because of the Lord. David said it is because of the Lord's goodness that we are in the land of the living. God has confidence and is persuaded better things of us. What are we going to do about it?