This must be the case in many other places also, but if you do any driving through central Florida, especially at night, the front of your car is going to get a makeover. It is a state law (seemingly) that at least 75,000 bugs (of varying sizes and substance) must slam full-speed into the front of your car. But, don’t dare try to clean them off your windshield with your wipers, else you smear them all over and make it impossible to see where you are going. When you get home, it is best to clean them off immediately, lest they bake themselves into the finish of your car.
Some of that may be a bit hyperbole, but it is nonetheless an ongoing issue. It is reminiscent, in a way, of the Christian life. We are bombarded with assaults from the devil on an ongoing basis, and trying to clean it up ourselves just makes things worse. Wouldn’t it be nice, in your car but more so in your Christian walk, if there was some kind of protective coating that could be applied to keep the “unholy bugs” of life from sticking? Maybe there is.
The Christians to whom the book of Hebrews was written were really struggling with their faith—there were a lot of “unholy bugs” that were impeding their walk with the Lord and even turning them away from Him. The penman of the book emphasizes the superiority and “better-ness” of Christ in all things and the protective coating for the Christian life that holiness is guaranteed to have. The inspired writer pleaded with these Christians to “pursue…holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). Do we do that? Is holiness our goal? Do we understand its essentiality and blessings?
In our English Bibles, we have another word in Hebrews that comes from the same Greek root as “holiness,” and that is the word “sanctified,” which means “to be set apart, separated, consecrated to God.” Think about what we learn and need to apply from that word in this book.
The goal of Christ when He came was to “sanctify the people with His own blood” (13:12), for we can only be “sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ” (10:10, 14). He wanted to sanctify and bring “many sons to glory,” but He could only accomplish that “through sufferings” (2:10). So, for us, He “suffered outside the gate” (13:12). When we pursue a sanctified life for Him, then we become “one” with “He who sanctifies” us,” and He is “not ashamed to call [us] brethren” (2:11).
Living a holy life makes us a target for ongoing assaults from the devil with as many “unholy bugs” as he can launch our way. But, the more we pursue the set-apart life for our Lord, the more He will provide us with His protection.