Hebrews 10:24–25

Go, go, go, go! The demands on our time are relentless. There’s never a lull in “must do” requirements. Get it done, drop it off, finish that task. Answer that email! Send that text! Make that phone call!

But let’s take a few minutes to ponder a word that gets overlooked in the midst of a breakneck schedule. That simple word is ... encouraging.

Think about that. Think about being of assistance ... your arm around the hunched shoulder of another ... your smile saying “try again” to someone who’s convinced it’s curtains ... your cup of cool encouragement offered to a friend whose heart for ministry has become barren and gone bone dry.

Consider these words from the writer to the Hebrews:

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near (Hebrews 10:24–25).

Yes, now, especially now, people need to be encouraged. Life takes hard, unexpected turns. Culture spins with a blurring uncertainty. People isolate and retreat into the latest technological craze. But what we need are living dispensers of God’s grace to penetrate that facade and lift people up so they can see the light of hope. Especially today, because these days are dreadfully evil.

Take a few moments to consider the people you experience life with. Is there someone you could encourage today? Maybe it’s your spouse who’s discouraged about work. Orit’s the frazzled barista you see getting your daily cup of joe. What are you waiting for? Go out of your way to lift that person’s spirits.

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Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord ... Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright ©2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved.