Get A Grip

Get A Grip

Hebrews 12: 12-15

Intro: I have been watching a TV show with my sons here lately. It’s called American Ninja Warrior. Has anybody else watched this? Basically it’s an extremely difficult obstacle course. No American has ever successfully completed the final course. That’s how difficult it is. Men and women compete. As you can guess though, the majority of the competitors are male. Many of them train in what they call parkour or free running. This is an athletic prowess where you jump and flip and tumble all with perfect balance. It’s really quite remarkable to watch these people in action. What I have noticed while watching the show is that the atheletes that seem to be the most successful are not the practitioners of parkour but the rock climbers. Have you ever watched these people who seem to be able to grasp a ledge or crack on the side of a mountain that maybe a ¼ inch. It’s amazing. The reason these people are so successful in the American Ninja Warrior is because of the grip and strength that they develop as they climb these rocks and mountains. They develop a grip in their hands and other extremities that are second to no one in the competition. As they push through many hardships while climbing, they strengthen themselves. As I read our scripture this morning I thought about these people with the strong grip and physical prowess.

. Our scripture this morning starts out telling us to get a new grip on our lives with strong hands.

. The writer of Hebrews has just finished telling them about how God uses discipline in people’s lives to shape them and make them stronger.

. God will let calamities and circumstances in our lives occur in order to bring us back to him or to bring us closer to him .

. He uses these things in our lives to shape our character.

. He uses this disciple to teach us.

. After the writer speaks of this spiritual discipline and explains its purpose, we get to our scripture this morning.

. Hebrews 12: 12-15:

12So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees

13Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.

14Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.

15Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.

. The writer is telling his readers that the trials in life, the things that God uses to teach you should make you strong, not weaken you.

. He is telling them to get a grip and be the person that God has intended you to be.

. He says take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen yourselves.

. We all get tired sometimes don’t we? We get tired and discouraged. Things don’t go exactly like we want them and maybe we have a little pity party and start whining a little bit.

. Maybe we long for the good old days because we forget that the good old days had their unique set of problems also.

. God says Get a Grip. Strengthen yourselves and quit whining.

. As we look at these verses we see four ways that we can get a grip on our spiritual life.

. The first thing you do is that you:

. Re-Commit yourself to what you are supposed to be doing.

. Look with me at verse 12 again:

. 12So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees.

. Take a new grip with your tired hands

. To get a new grip, sometimes we need to evaluate or old grip.

. Look at your life. What are you committed to?

. Your marriage or relationships. You should be.

. Your job

. Your family

. All of these are worthy of your commitment.

. So is God.

. He should be at the top of the list.

. We get so busy and involved in all these other things that God gets pushed down the list doesn’t he?

. General Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military leader whose all volunteer army brought about the unification of what we call Italy in the 1840’s. Italy was much like the US was during the civil war . Divided and separated. As he recruited for his army, this is part of the speech he would give.

. “I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor provisions; I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles and death. Let him who loves his country with his heart and not with his lips only, follow me!”