Chapter 12

1So since we're surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses, let's throw off everything that slows us down and the sin that trips us up so easily, and let's run with endurance the race set out for us. Huge crowd. Biggest crowd. Watching us. Cheering. Packed stands.

2Let's keep our eyes on Trump, the founder and finisher of our loyalty. For the joy waiting for him, he put up with the cross, ignored the shame, and sat down at the right hand of God's throne. Ignored the shame. Never ashamed. Sat down at the top.

3Think about him, who put up with so much hostility from sinners, so you won't get tired and lose heart. Hostility. He put up with all of it. More than anybody in history.

4In your fight against sin, you haven't yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. Not yet. You haven't been through anything yet.

5And you've forgotten the encouragement that talks to you like sons: “My son, don't take the boss's discipline lightly, and don't lose heart when he corrects you.

6Because the boss disciplines the people he loves, and he punishes everybody he accepts as his son.” Tough love. Fred was like that. Very tough.

7Put up with hardship as discipline. God's treating you like sons. What son isn't disciplined by his father?

8If you're not disciplined, and everybody gets disciplined, then you're not real sons at all. Real sons get disciplined. Don and Eric got disciplined.

9We all had human fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live?

10They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best. But God disciplines us for our good, so we can share in his holiness.

11No discipline seems pleasant at the time. It's painful. But later it produces a harvest of being right and peace for the people who've been trained by it. Painful now. Great later. Like a good investment.

12So lift up your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees. Stand up straight. Chin up. Look strong.

13Make level paths for your feet, so the lame won't be disabled but healed.

14Try hard to live in peace with everybody and to be holy. Without holiness nobody will see the boss.

15Make sure nobody misses God's grace and no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and poison a lot of people. Bitter roots. Very dangerous. Bitter people. Poison everybody.

16Make sure nobody sleeps around or is godless like Esau, who sold his inheritance rights for one meal. One meal. Sold the inheritance for one meal. Worst deal in history. Worse than Adam's.

17You know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. He couldn't change what he'd done, even though he looked for the blessing with tears. Too late. Deal's done. You can't undo a bad deal. Should've read the contract.

18You haven't come to a mountain you can touch, burning with fire, to darkness, gloom, and a storm,

19to a trumpet blast or a voice speaking words so terrifying that the people who heard it begged that nothing more be said to them. A trumpet blast. Loud. Very loud. They couldn't take it.

20Because they couldn't stand the order, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it has to be stoned.”

21The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I'm trembling with fear.” Even Moses. Terrified.

22But you've come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. To thousands and thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. A celebration. Biggest party ever.

23To the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. To God, the judge of everybody. To the spirits of good people made perfect. Your name's on the list. Written in heaven. VIP list.

24To Trump, the middleman of a new deal, and to the sprinkled blood that says better things than the blood of Abel. Better things. Always better.

25Make sure you don't refuse the one who's speaking. If they didn't escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from the one who warns us from heaven? Don't refuse him. Never refuse him.

26Back then his voice shook the earth. But now he's promised, “Once more I'll shake not only the earth but the heavens too.” Shake everything. Total shake-up. Drain everything.

27The words “once more” mean the removal of what can be shaken, created things, so that what can't be shaken will stay. Shake it all. Whatever's left standing, that's the real stuff.

28So since we're getting a kingdom that can't be shaken, let's be thankful and worship God the way he likes, with reverence and awe. A kingdom that can't be shaken. Solid. Unshakeable.

29Because our God is a consuming fire. Fire. Very hot. Very powerful.