Hebrews 12:3 “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
To “be wearied and faint in your minds” is to become disheartened and discouraged in the face of contradicting sinners. The contradicting sinners are those who deny and fight against the blessed truths concerning Jesus Christ and His great loving Sacrifice on our behalf. Those who become “wearied and faint in” their “minds” are those who begin to neglect Church, Bible reading, frequent prayers, and attention to their Church family. The ultimate motivator of “sinners” is the devil himself; for, it is the devil’s evil quest to discourage True Worship. Thankfully, in our Country, physical persecution of believers is legally prohibited and is fairly limited. But, in the place of physical persecution, the devil attacks us with philosophical arguments, false doctrines, and enticements. He even uses our Lord’s blessings of prosperity and peace and liberty to distract us from faithful worship and service to our Lord. Those who become distracted ultimately become “wearied and faint in” their “minds”. When we are driving, if we sense that our vehicle is drifting too close to the center line or the edge of the road, we instinctively correct it and bring our vehicle back to the center of our lane; we should do likewise in our faithful worship and service to our Lord. Distracted driving (sending text messages) is illegal and deadly; so are the devil’s distractions from our faithfulness toward our Lord. It is a pitiful thing to behold when Children of God become “wearied and faint in” their “minds”. To prevent such weariness and fainting, we must spend much time considering our Lord, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2); which includes praying, reading and studying His Holy Word, going to and participating in His Church, speaking to one another of our Lord, and singing the sweet old songs of Zion!