“And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:11-12).
This passage offers a subtle clue to indicate that our author was speaking to different members of his audience over the past few verses: “We want each of you to show this same diligence…” (NIV). This implies that there were some who did not show “diligence and full assurance of hope until the end.” Those individuals likely served as the target audience for Hebrews 5:12-6:8. Our author then followed by directing Hebrews 6:9-10 toward a different group, namely those who demonstrated a greater degree of spiritual maturity.
This reference to “diligence” conveys the attributes of perseverance, tenacity, persistence, and effort. Some of those who originally received this epistle had already exhibited those characteristics in their ministry to others. Now our author is prompting his readers to demonstrate those traits in emulating “…those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance” (NLT). We’ll find several examples of such diligence later in Hebrews chapter eleven.
While these spiritual characteristics often involve demanding qualities such as patience and discipline, we are certainly well-acquainted with those values in other areas of life…
“…trusting in others and waiting for them to deliver is hardly foreign to us. Most of us face that every day in the workplace. We accept contracts for products and services weeks, months, or even years in advance of actual delivery. Are you asking God to deliver on your time schedule? God wants to grow you rather than just give to you. He cultivates faith and perseverance by doing His work in our lives in His way and in His time.” (1)
As another commentator observed regarding the original audience for this letter, “They had already become sluggish in their hearing (5:11); they must now be diligent, lest such sluggishness characterize their whole life.” (2)
Finally, this passage reminds us that it is important to guard against spiritual lethargy and indifference in a world that features a multitude of demands that compete for our attention. Thus, as we are reminded in the New Testament book of 1 Thessalonians, “Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6). It is in this manner that we can be “…imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and perseverance” (CSB).
(1) Word in Life Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1996), Heb 6:12–15.
(2) Edward E. Hindson and Woodrow Michael Kroll, eds., KJV Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1994), 2551.