Continuing in the next few verses of Hebrews 3, there’s a lot contained in just three verses.
See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.
Hebrews 3:12-14 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/heb.3.12-14.NIV
First, there’s yet another reminder to remain faithful to God. And, the characteristics of falling away specifically include “a sinful, unbelieving heart” – one that “that turns away from the living God”. We probably can’t appreciate the kind of decisions that the original recipients of this letter of Hebrews were having to make, knowing what it could – or would – cost them under persecution to remain faithful to Jesus. However, we still face tests and trials, and even if our biggest enemies to remaining faithful are things like distraction or apathy or indifference, we must fight the evil that wants to keep us from living like Jesus and telling a lost world about Him.
The next verse [Hebrews 3:13] is simple and relatively easy to do, but so powerful: “encourage one another daily”. So, do we practice this? It’s not hard: encouraging other Christians every day. Maybe it’s just a matter of speaking a personal word of encouragement each time you talk to another believer. Maybe it’s closing conversations with a reminder about God’s goodness and our need for faithfulness. And, why should we do this? Because sin is deceitful. In a world where evil forces and their converts lie to us daily, we need regular doses of the truth as reminders.
By the way, I think that the middle part of verse 13 is interesting. We are to encourage others in the faith “Today”. As a starting point, the idea of “Today” is from the Psalm 95 quote in Hebrews 3:7-11, just before this passage (as pointed out by Girdwood & Verkruyse, p.125). However, I suspect that in eternity with God, we won’t worry about the day of the week. I don’t see us asking each other, “Is it Friday, yet?” (After all, there’s no night there.)
Instead, the way I see this, whether or not time passes in eternity (or if we just “are”, existing with God outside of time, as my dad has theorized), we must encourage each other while we’re still on this earth. It’s hard to imagine needing any encouragement like this in eternity, being in the presence of God and free from the pain of sin and death. While we still fight the battle against sin on this earth, though, we – and other believers around us – still need encouragement to remain faithful and to hold fast to our conviction, so that we can reach that ultimate rest when the time comes.
Then, in Hebrews 3:14, the author does exactly what he or she told the readers to do, giving a word of encouragement to them. The reminder is that we share in Christ, who was:
- More than a nice guy who taught some good things about being kind to others.
- More than a good leader who followed God like Moses did (on Moses’ good days).
- More than a high priest who brought an annual sacrifice to God to “tide us over” until the next year.
More than that, we share in Christ who loved us, saved us, and introduced us into the very family of God: a house that will last for eternity, and which has proven victorious not only over evil, but over even sin and death. Jesus is worth remaining faithful to, all the way to the very end of our lives. May we remember that ourselves, and encourage others with that good news!
From Sunday School lesson prepared for January 18, 2026
References:
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Hebrews, by Jim Girdwood and Peter Verkruyse. © 1997 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 