Let us Go on Toward Perfection

Beloved, 

Grace and Peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our LORD. Today, we begin our yearly Beginning of The Year Fast. Remember, drink all the water you can today and have one bowl of soup after 3 PM. Let’s take a look at today scripture. 

Heb. 6:1 ¶ Therefore let us go on toward perfection, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the foundation: repentance from dead works and faith toward God, NRSV.

This is an excellent time of year. Today, January 2nd, 2024, many are making resolutions, promises to themselves, and big plans, and that is a good thing if you have a plan to follow through with them. I have been inspired by this scripture, and I intend to move on toward perfection. 

With that being said, it is also customary for many to begin to look forward. What does my 2024 look like? I have decided to “Go on Toward Perfection.” This agreement between Pastor Paul and the church interests me because of how the phrase is rendered. In the Greek, it reads, ἐπὶ τὴν τελειότητα φερώμεθα. The word I need to bring to our attention is the Greek word for Perfection, which is τελειοτητα. It is a word we are very familiar with in the lexical form. It is τελειος. The word we associate with “Achievement.” In this context, we can understand the text as saying Let us go on toward achievement/perfection/maturity/completeness. They all carry real meaning in this text. 

The text also makes something clear to us. In order to move toward this, we need to be willing to leave something behind. This text tells us we must leave behind the “basic teaching.” Not that the basics are unimportant, but they will not get us to achievement if we are not ready to leave the foundational things. 

I am committed to leaving behind anything that will not help me get to achievement, towards perfection, towards maturity, towards completeness. 2024 will be a year of τελειος for me. How about you? 

Yours Because I am His

Leo Colon, D. Min., M.Div. 

Pastor