As we get into Hebrews, one theme is “avoid Jesus and…” But I’m seeing another in these first few chapters. What do you think?

• Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (2.1)
• Now, if we can only keep a firm grip on this bold confidence, we’re the house! (3.6)
• So watch your step, friends. Make sure there’s no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. (3.12)
• For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God’s goal for us, we need to be careful that we’re not disqualified. (4.1)

Pay attention, lest we drift…keep a firm grip…watch your step…be careful. The Jews now in captivity in Babylon, that we’ve been reading about, didn’t set out to be idolatrous…but that’s what they became. How could France, a Christian country for centuries, builder of the Notre Dame Cathedral, be proud to produce an Olympics Opening Ceremony that mocked Christianity?

My son the stair racer won another race, Saturday, July 27. It was the Coors Field climb, 3,600 steps around the lower stands. I watched him do it. The runners run individually, a staggered start. His friend Christopher Baker shown with Mark after the race finished a minute slower than Mark.

Why am I highlighting Mark again? Because he doesn’t win these races by accident. He trains. And to get worse, to go from winning to being an also-ran, he wouldn’t have to do anything. Literally. Just stop training. The application is clear.

Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire. (Matthew 26.41, MSG)

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (1 Corinthians 9.24, 25, NIV)