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NY attempt at combining all of the principles in this chapter into one cohesive thought will likely be somewhat lacking. Still, there are a few themes that rise to the surface here. For one thing, these are the particulars that extend forth from the general principle of putting-faith-into-action, which we found in Hebrews 12. Still, this chapter seems to be something of a shotgun approach. Not that there is anything wrong with diversity in a good message, it's just that this approach is a bit different than most of the 1000+ chapters that we have studied together so far.
Let's take a couple of the dominant themes & focus on them briefly. It is certain that our horizontal relationships matter much in our spiritual walk. The author of Hebrews challenged his readers concerning their attitudes & actions toward others: toward their spiritual siblings (vs. 1), strangers (vs. 2), suffering servants (vs. 3), spouses (vs. 4), good religious mentors (vs. 7, 17 & 24) & even toward false teachers (vs. 9). This is not new news. Loving God & loving our fellow man go together (see the 10 Commandments, or Matthew 22:37-40). God is merciful to the merciful. He forgives the forgiving. He gives to the giving. He loves the loving & helps those who are willing to help others (Luke 6:38, Matthew 25:40 & 1st John 4:21). Being righteously spiritual or godly without being moral & kind is a paradoxical impossibility. Do you & I want to walk with God? To succeed, we must change how we treat those around us (unless you are already doing it right, of course).
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