Matthew, my 3-year-old, loves choo-choo trains. When we bought him a wooden train set, he was so excited. For a while that train set was his best friend. He would play with it all day, everyday. I thought the set was such a good investment because it would be his favorite toy for a long time. Unfortunately, Matthew's enthusiasm didn't last that long. He still likes it a lot, but he doesn't play with it too often now. Like all his other toys, the train set held a "five-minute" attention span, before Matthew became attracted to newer toys.
The author of Hebrews apparently understands this part of human nature very well. He writes that we can be partners of Jesus Christ only if we can keep our faith till the end, and not just a temporary enthusiasm. He doesn't speak of just any faith: he specifically refers to the beginning of our confidence. Do you still remember the zeal, the enthusiasm, and the total commitment you had when you first believed in Christ? The beginning of confidence is the time when we have the purest and strongest faith. When the Holy Spirit first came down on you, didn't you feel like a brand new person charged and ready to devote yourselves to Him?
But we live in an ugly world that is full of temptation. The pressures and problems from work, school, our own home or even from church can easily distract us from Jesus Christ. Satan is always ready to use work politics, peer pressure, spousal conflicts, or parenting problems to weigh us down and blur our vision. We want to look up to the eternal glory, but reality often discourages and frustrates us. Oftentimes we feel our faith is like riding a roller coaster, going up and down.
A train set is just a toy. No wonder a child tires of it and moves onto something else. But our Lord Jesus is much more to us: He is our Savior and Master. The Lord Jesus alone is able to sustain us and guide us through the ups and downs of life. It is up to us to make our relationship with Him the first priority in our lives at all times—instead of just a "five-minute engagement." It is easy to lose our focus, to try and find all the "toys" in this world (a successful career, money, houses, cars), and still find emptiness in our hearts.
Hebrews tells us to go back to the top and stay there—to return to our original faith, the beginning of confidence. Only then will we be able to be partakers of Christ, sure to share in His eternal glory. When you feel weak and burdened by the unpleasant load of this world, try very hard to focus on the purpose of your journey: to enter the kingdom of God. If you fix your eyes upon Jesus Christ, you will be able to overcome what is unpleasant, ugly, and vain.
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