Paul makes two important points about the resurrection. First, he explains that Christians are without hope in the absence of the resurrection. He points out that “if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (v. 14) Furthermore, if Christ has not been raised, “we are then found to be false witnesses about God” (v. 15), “your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (v. 17), and “those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost” (v. 18). He concludes that “if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied” (v. 19) Put simply, without Christ’s resurrection, we are following a lifeless leader – trusting in a failed Saviour – even worshipping a dead deity. We should then simply “eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (v. 32).

In the world of mining, it’s often the deepest mines in the most challenging places that yield the richest treasure.  And sometimes it’s like that with the Word of God.  Sometimes the places where we have to do the most digging and work the hardest give us some of the greatest spiritual reward.  The Book of Hebrews is one such place.  It is full of treasure, but one needs to rolls up one’s sleeves and do some hard work digging to understand its message. 

In the world of mining, it’s often the deepest mines in the most challenging places that yield the richest treasure.  And sometimes it’s like that with the Word of God.  Sometimes the places where we have to do the most digging and work the hardest give us some of the greatest spiritual reward.  The Book of Hebrews is one such place.  It is full of treasure, but one needs to rolls up one’s sleeves and do some hard work digging to understand its message. 

Prayer can be a challenging undertaking. It’s hard to set aside the time, focus our minds, and still our hearts. It’s hard to know how to pray. We can always pray for urgent needs related to health or finances. But apart from those, what should be our regular priorities in prayer – for ourselves and for one another? It’s so easy to descend into bland generalities when we pray (e.g. “bless” so and so). On one level, this is perfectly fine. It’s not wrong. But this can feel shallow. Where can we learn about prayer as God intended it?

James addresses his letter to “the twelve tribes in the Dispersion”. It could be that he is writing to a group of Jewish believers who have been scattered beyond their homeland of Palestine. Or he could be speaking more broadly of a mixed group of believers – Jew and Gentile – scattered in the world. In either case, he emphasizes a key truth about their situation: they are away from home, scattered, isolated, and probably feeling vulnerable. These believers are under pressure and facing trials. The situation for Christians today is not too different—they too are scattered in the world, conscious of being away from their spiritual homeland, and facing pressure or opposition.