Posts Tagged: Hebrews 12:14
“Keep Pursuing!”
“Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14 The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, https://accordance.bible/link/read/ESVS#Heb._12:14)
What are you pursuing?
The word translated “strive” in the verse that leads off this post is in the present tense in the original Greek. The present tense in Greek usually represents an ongoing or continual action. We are not to simply seek peace with other people, and holiness of life. We are to seek peace and holiness continually. Such pursuing is a pattern of life. Indeed, such pursuing is a life-style.
We will all pursue something: money, fame, security, love, acceptance, significance, the acceptance of others, power, sex. And no doubt, all those things have some goodness and validity as objects of pursuit. However, such pursuit can easily become not so good. In fact, such pursuits can become addictions.
But what about pursuing peace with everyone, as well as pursuing holiness?
Most of us probably know what peace might look like. At least, we think we know that. But what about holiness? What is it? Why is it necessary to pursue holiness in order to see the Lord? How do I pursue holiness? These are the questions that I am wrestling with these days.
This entire year, I am pursuing holiness. It is my main word for the year. (Choosing one word as my “word-of-the-year” is an idea that I picked up from Jon Gordon. Thanks, Jon!)
Hebrews 12:14, the verse that leads off this post, is my verse for the year. I am committed to pursuing a deep understanding of this one verse—not an intellectual understanding only. No! I am committed to pursuing (there’s that word again!) holiness and this verse with every fiber of my being.
Care to join me? Pursuits are more fun and more effective if you have companions!
“PURSUING PEACE WITH EVERYONE”
“Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness– without it no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14, Holman Christian Standard Bible)
I am not a peaceful person. I struggle to be at peace with myself, with me wife, with other drivers on the highway (I’m probably completely alone in this), with anyone who disagrees with me, even with those who basically agree with me. I tend to be an equal-opportunity non-peaceful person.
So, I don’t like Hebrews 12:14. Need? Yes! Like? No!
But I do not believe that Bible verses (or anything else in the universe) exists for me to like them.
On the other hand, the very fact that this command to seek peace with everyone is in the book of Hebrews suggests that folks in the church probably didn’t like it either. After all, if you have to write to someone to do something, the very fact that you have to tell someone something suggests that they might not be doing it. Right? I take some comfort from that fact.
However, while misery loves company, misery is still misery. And the truth is that being an un-peaceful person is pretty miserable.
In the original Greek, the tense of the verb “pursue” is a present tense. In Greek, the present tense suggests ongoing, continual action. We need to be continually pursuing peace.
And then there is the verb itself: diwkw.(diōkō). In secular Greek and in New Testament Greek, this word is used both literally and metaphorically. It means “to eagerly pursue” someone or something, either for a hostile or good purpose. Thus, in a hostile context, it can be translated with the word “persecute.”
But it can also be used for someone running hard in order to win a race. For example, in Philippians 3:12, Paul uses this word for how he lives his life as a follower of Christ. (Ironically, this same word is used by the risen Jesus when he confronts Saul/Paul about Saul’s persecution of the church. See Acts 9:5 for further details.)
The use of this particular word in Hebrews 12:14 for the quest to be at peace with everyone may suggest that peace is an elusive goal. You aren’t going to encounter peace strolling down the path to meet you. You’re going to have to chase it. Strife is natural to us humans. Peace is not.
So, how do I go about pursuing peace? Well, I can tell you two things that won’t help much: reading a blog post about peace, or writing a blog post about peace. (Okay, maybe those would help a little.) But what does work?
Let me mention a few things that help me—when I actually do them.
First, I am more likely to pursue peace with everyone else when I am somewhat at peace with myself. If I am a walking civil war, that war will spill out across my borders. Civil wars do that. Accepting myself as I am, with my particular blend of strengths and weaknesses, is a wonderful way to be at peace with myself. It is also a wonderful way to pursue peace with everyone else.
Of course, accepting myself as I am and being at peace with myself does not mean that I don’t try to make some changes for the better in my own life. In fact, doing the right things, living well, deepens my genuine at-peace-ness with myself.
Second, I will need to think about what peace would look like in relation to other people and situations. For example, I can tolerate a certain amount of clutter. (In truth, I can put up with entirely too much clutter.) My wife, however, does not like a bunch of dishes piled up in the sink. I try to tell her that I’m soaking the dishes, but after three or four days of soaking the dishes, that explanation wears very thin.
The solution is very easy. Pursuing peace with my sweetheart is not difficult. Wash the dishes in a timely manner, dry them, and put them away.
Hey! Maybe pursuing peace isn’t so hard after all!
Well, of course, this is a very small example. However, we all have to begin somewhere. And that brings me to a third and final practical suggestion. I will put this in all caps, bold font, so that neither you nor I can miss it. BE WILLING TO BEGIN SMALL IN PURSUING PEACE! A consistent pursuit of peace in small things will help you to pursue peace in bigger things.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to people or institutions that make a significant contribution to world peace. There may not be a prize associated with your and my quest to live at peace with everyone, but it does matter. Rest assured of that! It does matter!
What will you do to pursue peace today?
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
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