Scripture: Hebrews 10:32-39 (NIV)

Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For,

“In just a little while,
he who is coming will come
and will not delay.”

And,

“But my righteous one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.”

But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “We must hang together or we will assuredly hang separately.” Franklin was in our galaxy, not one far, far away, but the people of the Rebellion understood that sentiment completely. Time after time they didn’t give thought to their own safety or comfort but instead made sure to fight alongside those looking for a better life.

Perhaps nowhere is that illustrated more than the briefing before the battle of Endor. It could have been easy for Han Solo to stay back and help command things, but instead he volunteered to lead the strike force on the planet. He didn’t try to talk his friends into it, not even Chewbacca, but they all were determined to stand by his side in that fight. His fate would be theirs. They knew it was dangerous, knew that things might not go well, but they had to stay together.

The early Christians could have easily gotten disheartened. After all, the prevailing thought at the time was that the return of Christ was going to happen at any time. As the years started to pile up without that return, those followers could have given up. The author of Hebrews encourages them to treat these days like the early days of their faith, when they stood together and with anyone in suffering, anyone in need.

Our clocks and God’s clocks are not the same. Soon is a different measurement for One not bound by time. We, like the early Christians, have to press on in our faith. In doing so, we have to be there for each other, of course, but also for those that need support and strength in trials. We may be scorned by the world. We may lose the standing that we have enjoyed. Whatever the cost, though, holding strong to our faith will be worth it when we are counted among the faithful at His return!