Three Little Kittens Have Lost Their Mittens—NOT!

Reading: Jeremiah 4-6, Hebrews 10

When I was a little kid and lived in the land of ice and snow, I couldn’t go very far without my mittens. As little kids are wont to do, it was easy to misplace one, or both mittens. The simple solution was to wear mittens that were attached to each other with a long length of wool that went around the collar of the coat or snowsuit. Even if I took my mittens off, they would still be attached to me; hung around my neck by their woolen cord. I’d have to work hard to throw one, or both, of them away.

Hebrews 10:35 (NIV) says: “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”

The context tells us that the writer is encouraging his audience to stand firm even in the face of persecution and hard times that might never seem to let up. Short-lived battles are easier won than the wars that drag on for years. We just get tired of fighting and giving up seems the best option available when strength is spent and we are way beyond weary.

Like my mittens, there needs to be a strong cord attached that keeps me from losing my confidence, from giving up, when the battle just seems too much. What’s the spiritual cord?

Hebrews 11 carries on where Hebrews 10 leaves off and we know that Hebrews 11 is the famous faith chapter.

The cord of faith keeps the mittens of patience and perseverance attached to each other. Faith keeps us from throwing those “mittens” away or from accidently losing one or the other.

Faith in faith isn’t what we are talking about here. It’s where we place that faith that counts. God is the object of our faith and He always keeps His promise. We will receive exactly what He has promised to give us even though the dust of the battlefield sometimes obscures our vision of how that is all going to work out.

Hang on to your mittens. Better yet, attach them to that strong woolen cord and they’ll never get lost.