Hebrews 12
1Therefore, seeing we also are compassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3For consider Him that endured such contradiction from sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
4In striving against sin, ye have not yet resisted unto bloodshed.
5And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children: "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked by Him;
6for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth."
7If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all arepartakers, then ye are bastards and not sons.
9Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not far rather be in subjection unto the Father of Spirits, and live?
10For verily they chastened us for a few days according to their own pleasure, but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.
11Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto those who are exercised thereby.
12Therefore, lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees,
13and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed.
14Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord,
15looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness spring up to trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
16lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
17For ye know how afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
18For ye have not come unto the mount which might be touched and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest,
19and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, which voice those who heard entreated that the Word should not be spoken to them any more.
20(For they could not endure that which was commanded, that: "if even so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart."
21And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, "I fear exceedingly and quake.")
22But ye have come unto Mount Zion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, who are written in Heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
25See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh, for if they escaped not who refused Him that spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him that speaketh from Heaven,
26whose voice then shook the earth. But now He hath promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven."
27And these words, "yet once more," signifieth the removing of those things which can be shaken, such as things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28Therefore, we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear.
29For our God is a consuming fire.
DON'T LEAVE IT ON THE DESK!
There was a certain Professor of Religion named Dr. Christianson, a studious man who taught at a small college in the western United States. Dr. Christianson taught the required survey course in Christianity at this particular institution. Every student was required to take this course his or her freshman year, regardless of his or her major.
Although Dr. Christianson tried hard to communicate the essence of the gospel in his class, he found that most of his students looked upon the course as nothing but required drudgery. Despite his best efforts, most students refused to take Christianity seriously.
This year, Dr. Christianson had a special student named Steve. Steve was only a freshman but was studying with the intent of going into the seminary for the ministry.
Steve was popular, he was well-liked and he was an imposing physical specimen. He was now the starting center on the school football team, and was the best student in the Professor's class.
One day, Dr. Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him.
"How many push-ups can you do?"
Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."
"200? That's pretty good Steve," Dr. Christianson said, "Do you think you could do 300?"
Steve replied, "I don't know. I've never done 300 at a time."
"Do you think you could?" again asked Dr. Christianson.
"Well, I can try," said Steve.
"Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I have a class project in mind and I need you to do about 300 push-ups in sets of 10 for this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it!" said the Professor.
Steve said, "Well, I think I can. Yeah, I can do it."
Dr. Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday. Let me explain what I have in mind."
Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, the Professor pulled out a big box of doughnuts. No, these weren't the normal kinds of doughnuts; they were the extra fancy BIG kind with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend with a party in Dr. Christianson's class.
Dr. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want to have one of these doughnuts?"
Cynthia said, "Yes."
Dr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked,
"Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a doughnut."
"Sure," and Steve jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in the desk. Dr. Christianson then put a doughnut on Cynthia's desk.
Dr. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe, do you want a doughnut?"
Joe said, "Yes."
Dr. Christianson asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a doughnut."
Steve did ten push-ups; Joe got a doughnut. And so it went, down the first aisle. Steve did ten push-ups for every person before they got their doughnut.
Walking down the second aisle, Dr. Christianson came to Scott. Scott was on the basketball team, and in as good condition as Steve. He was very popular and never lacked for female companionship.
When the Professor asked, "Scott, do you want a doughnut?"
Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own push-ups?"
Dr. Christianson said, "No. Steve has to do them."
Then Scott replied, "No, I don't want one then."
Dr. Christianson shrugged and then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Scott can have a doughnut he doesn't want."
With perfect obedience, Steve started to do ten push-ups.
Scott said, "Hey! I said I didn't want one!"
Dr. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desk and these are my doughnuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And he put a doughnut on Scott's desk.
Now, by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow.
Dr. Christianson started down the third row. Now, the students were beginning to get a little angry. Dr. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a doughnut?"
Sternly, Jenny said, "NO!"
Then Dr. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve would you do ten more push-ups so that Jenny can have a doughnut she doesn't want."
Steve did ten; Jenny got the doughnut.
By now, a growing sense of uneasiness filled the room. The students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten doughnuts on the desks.
Steve also had to really put forth a lot of extra effort to get these push-ups done for each doughnut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.
Dr. Christianson asked Robert, who was the most vocal unbeliever in the class, to watch Steve do each push-up to make sure he did the full ten push-ups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all those uneaten doughnuts. He sent Robert over to where Steve was so Robert could count the set and watch Steve closely.
Dr. Christianson started down the fourth row. During his class, however, some students from other classes had wandered in and sat down on the steps along the radiators that ran down the sides of the room.
When the Professor realized this, he did a quick count and saw that now there were 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.
Dr. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.
Steve asked Dr. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?"
Dr. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your push-ups. You're in charge now. You can do them any way you want." And Dr. Christianson went on.
A few moments later, Jason, a recent transfer student,came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled in one voice, "NO! Don't come in! Stay out!"
Jason didn't know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, "No. Let him come in."
Professor Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in, you will have to do ten push-ups for him."
Steve said, "Yes, let him come in. Give him a doughnut."
Dr. Christianson said, "Okay Steve, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a doughnut?"
Jason, new to the room, hardly knew what was going on.
"Yes," he said, "Give me a doughnut."
"Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a doughnut?"
Steve did ten push-ups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a doughnut and sat down.
Dr. Christianson finished the fourth row and then started on those visitors seated by the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. By this time, sweat was profusely dropping off of his face, there was no sound except his heavy breathing; there was not a dry eye in the room.
The very last two students in the room were two young women, both cheerleaders, and very popular.
Dr. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last,and asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut?"
Linda said,very sadly, "No, thank you."
Professor Christianson quietly asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Linda can have a doughnut that she doesn't want."
Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow push-ups for Linda. Then, Dr. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan.
"Susan, do you want a doughnut?"
Susan, with tears flowing down her face, began to cry.
"Dr. Christianson, why can't I help him?"
Dr. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, Steve has to do it alone. I have given him this task and he is in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a doughnut whether they want it or not. When I decided to have a party this last day of class, I looked at my grade book. Steve here is the only student with a perfect grade. Everyone else has failed a test, skipped class, or offered me inferior work. Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up he must do push-ups.
I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push-ups. He and I made a deal for your sakes."
"Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a doughnut?"
As Steve very slowly finished his last push-up, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 push-ups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.
Dr. Christianson turned to the room and said,
"And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross, plead to the Father, 'into Thy hands I commend My spirit.' with the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, He yielded up his life. And, like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk uneaten."
Two students helped Steve up off the floor and to a seat, physically exhausted, but wearing a thin smile.
"Well done, good and faithful servant," said the Professor, adding, "Not all sermons are preached in words."
Turning to his class, the Professor said, "My wish is that you might understand and fully comprehend all the riches of grace and mercy that have been given to you through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God spared not only his Begotten Son, but gave Him up for us all, for the whole Church, now and forever. Whether or not we choose to accept His gift to us, the price has been paid."
"Wouldn't you be foolish and ungrateful to leave it lying on the desk?"
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