How many things have you started and then quietly given up on?
A new language. A gym membership. For Steve, it was the electric guitar. he bought the amp, grew his hair out, took lessons, learned a few riffs, and was convinced he was heading for rock stardom. A year later the guitar was gathering dust in the corner.
Most of the time, giving up on something doesn’t cost us much. But some things matter more than a hobby. And Hebrews 10:26–39 is about the one relationship where drifting away really does matter:
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:26-29 NIV)
A Hard Passage
This passage in Hebrews doesn’t hold back. It’s a warning to believers who choose to keep sinning deliberately after they’ve known the truth – people the writer calls “enemies of God.” Verse 29 asks how much worse the punishment should be for someone who has “trampled the Son of God underfoot.”
That’s strong language. It’s not about the sin we all wrestle with day to day. It’s about rebellion- walking away from what you once believed.
The original readers were Jewish believers under real pressure to slip back into old religious practices to avoid persecution. Their passion for Christ had faded, and some were heading back to their old life.
When the Spark Fades
Here’s where it gets relatable. Think about any long relationship. Early on, you can’t stop thinking about the other person. Every text lights you up. Years later, some of those same habits start to annoy you, and you’re hoping for a quiet night to yourself.
Relationships don’t collapse overnight. They fade when one side stops putting in the effort – when you stop showing interest, stop planning time together, stop choosing to lean in.
Our relationship with God works the same way. The question worth sitting with is simple: how much effort are you actually putting into it right now?
Steve’s Own Story
Steve became a Christian on in August 2010. The early years were full of energy – books, videos, questions, momentum.
Since then, life has done what life does. Years stuck in a job I didn’t enjoy. Family members passing on who weren’t believers. Starting a new business and wondering if it’s even the right path.
What’s kept me steady through all of it isn’t a single dramatic moment. It’s remembering how God has worked before, and choosing, again and again, not to shrink back.
Three Takeaways
1. Remember your past. Not just as nostalgia, but as fuel. What made your faith feel alive at the start? That same truth is still available to you now, you’ve just moved further down the road.
2. Faith is about direction, not perfection. Look honestly at a recent week. If every week for the rest of the year looked like that one, would your relationship with God be stronger or weaker? If the answer is weaker, that’s not a reason for guilt. It’s a starting point for one small change.
3. Endurance beats intensity. This isn’t about reading the whole Bible in three weeks and then never opening it again. It’s about small, sustainable habits – five minutes of prayer, a daily devotion, whatever you can actually keep doing. Consistency wins over heroics every time.
Don’t Shrink Back
The passage ends with a promise: “we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved” (v39).
Faith isn’t a feeling you wait to rediscover. It’s a decision you make today, and then again tomorrow. It’s choosing to lean in when the world is pulling you the other way.
So don’t let this one drift like an old guitar in the corner. Pick it back up.
Leave a Reply