So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us (Hebrews 6:17–18a, esv).
Here’s an important and unchangeable truth to treasure in your heart this year: God is a promiser. It’s His nature to fulfill His promises—and He will never stop keeping His Word. Hebrews 6:17–18 reveals that God’s goal in making them is so we’d be strongly encouraged to hold on. Take a moment to read the verses above once again.
God is committed to helping you lay hold of His promises because He knows they will give you strength. He wants to impress upon you “the unchangeable character of his purpose,” so you can be confident and solid in what you believe about Him. God doesn’t want you wavering or wandering through life, doubting or faltering in your faith. He is saying in effect, Go after the Christian life with confidence! Take hold of it with conviction. I want you to have full assurance right to the end. Don’t give up or back up. Don’t quit!
You can’t read many pages of Scripture without finding promise after promise God has faithfully kept throughout history:
• He promised one of Eve’s offspring would crush the serpent (Genesis 3).
• He promised Noah He would never again destroy the world by a flood (Genesis 9).
• He promised innumerable descendants to Abram (Genesis 12).
• He promised to deliver the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 6).
• He promised the people of Israel blessings for keeping the law and curses for disobeying (Deuteronomy 28).
• He promised victory over the Canaanites to Joshua (Joshua 1).
• He promised an everlasting throne to David’s descendants (2 Samuel 7).
And those examples are just the beginning. The Bible is overflowing with promises God has made and kept. In fact, the central theme of Scripture is one big promise. In the Old Testament, the Messiah is promised; in the New Testament, He arrives and promises to come again! God’s entire communication with us could be summed up as “I promise.”
The persistence of God’s pledge is also true for you personally. He wants you to be so familiar with His character and live so confidently in your faith that you can say, “I know what God is going to do. I don’t know when or how, but He’s made some promises, and I can walk by faith until He delivers.”
Are you trusting the Lord with all your heart? He wants you to “have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before [you]” (v.18b). In fact, God amazingly tells His children we are “the heirs of the promise.” If you belong to Him, your whole identity is tied up in the promises He’s made to you.
Isn’t it time to live that way? The Christian life includes walking by faith from the first day of your greatest problem, to the final day when He reveals His most amazing solution. So make it your intention this year to test and track how God keeps His promises—and be encouraged by His faithfulness.
Journal
Pray
Father, thank You for being a promise-keeping God. Thank You for graciously giving us a record in Your Word of some of the promises You’ve already kept. Thank You that it’s impossible for You to lie. Please grow my faith and help me to hold fast to the hope set before me when times are hard and when they’re good. Help me to stand on all of Your promises—that You will never leave me, that You love me with an everlasting love, and that You will be faithful to finish what You began in me. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.