From Hebrews 3:7-14
Encourage yourselves daily while it is still "today," so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin.
At first I wondered what is with the "...daily while it is still today." Perhaps this is another example of the woodenness of the newest translation of the Lectionary, which I really hope they replace before too long.
Then it occurred to me that the repetition may be intentional. Do it TODAY!! Don't delay! Holiness is not something we ought to hope might happen to us over the passage of time, but rather something we must actively work toward today!
And from the Gospel....Jesus healed the leper and then warned him "sternly." He warned him STERNLY, "See that you tell no one anything..." The leper then went off and told everyone. He had just been healed. Why didn't he follow Jesus' instructions??
Could it be that he just couldn't help himself in his excitement? Or perhaps he had to tell people as an explanation for why he could now approach them?
As a result, it "was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere." Interesting. All communication about Jesus at that time would have been by word of mouth. Imagine the enthusiasm, the exhilaration with which this word would have traveled. Was it impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly because he would have been mobbed? Too many crowds? Too much disruption of daily life?
Would that we might spread the word with the same enthusiasm, the same excitement. It's been over 2000 years. Yet Jesus is still telling us to encourage each other daily, while it is still today!
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