Hebrews 13: 9.
“Be not CARRIED about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with GRACE; not with MEATS, which have not PROFITED them that have been OCCUPIED therein”.

I make bold to highlight five words in the above text.
These five words shall serve as keys into understanding what Apostle Paul intended to convey in this section of his letter to the Jews.
The first is the word “carried” – in Greek “periphero”.
It means to swirl around, revolve like the rotating wheels of the Disney. Don’t be carried about means: never allow any religious teaching (diverse doctrines)to keep you swinging about with no definite anchor.
How you know such doctrines is that it first disqualifies you before God; and then teaches you to strive harder, pray and fast harder, give more sacrificially, in order to press into God, or as some say, to “provoke” God.

It’s not God’s plan that you strive to get his attention, or to qualify yourself in any other way.
In Christ, you’re already qualified.
Your completeness is in Him alone, in whom you have all fullness.

In another epistle to the Church at Collose, Paul put it the same in different words:

Col 2:8-10

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:”

Next, we want to look at the word GRACE.

Grace is from the root word ‘hesed’- meaning the superfluous, unconditional and ever present love of God.
Paul admonishes that rather than any thing else, our hearts should be established upon grace.

That means a believer should not set his or her heart on self-works, religious piety or even personal achievements. Not even on miracles and healings, but on the love of God.

Therein lies the strength of the child of God.
(1 Jn 4:10).

Does it mean miracles and healings aren’t important? No. But they can’t satisfy like grace; and building on them is like chasing the wind.
If you receive a healing today, and you settle there, you may need another healing tomorrow or in one year’s time.
For instance, as spectacular as the miracle of five loaves and two fishes was, it fed the people for one meal only. They would have needed another bread-and-fish miracle 6 hours later.
And that is why Jesus rebuked the multitudes in John 6:26
” Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.”

The Gospel is about the GRACE of God. It’s GOOD NEWS.
Every ‘News’ whether good or bad conveys story of what has already happened. Grace news is not about what God WILL DO for you tomorrow, or how God WILL HEAL you. No.
It’s news about what has already happened. A process that has already completed.
God became Man (Jesus), took man’s sins upon himself, died on the cross, was buried, and rose from the dead after 3 days, to justify those who believe.
That’s Grace. That’s the power of God unto salvation.(Rom 1:16).
Let your heart be established on this fact.
Alleluia!
Lastly,I will like to round up by taking the last three phrases:
“not with MEATS”, which have”not PROFITED them who have been OCCUPIED…

‘Meats’, what are they?
Apostle Paul was always confronted by questions relating to some foods (or meats) which were forbidden by the Law of Moses. Certain animals were forbidden by the Law, and there were rules regarding preparation of foods and meats. For instance, the Law forbids strangled meats, or animals sacrificed to idols, and many other ‘taste-nots’,and ‘drink-nots’.

The new Believers had difficulty transitioning from these ‘Meat-Laws’ to the Gospel.
(1 Tim 4: 1-3).

Col 2:16-17
” Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ…
So when Paul admonishes that our hearts be established with grace and not with meats, he is saying:
“Focus on what Christ accomplished for you by his death, burial and resurection, rather than elemental ordinances of ‘taste not’, ‘drink not’ or ‘wear not’ of the Law. Do not be spite the grace of God by focusing on the self-qorks of observance of ‘meats’.
Because they have not PROFITED, and could never indeed profit those who are OCCUPIED with them.

As long as your head is bent observing these rules, you can’t behold Christ, and you can’t profit from the Spirit of Grace.

Gal 3: 12.
“And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them..”

Arise, walk in the freedom Christ hath bequeathed the saints.

– Dr Nich Mbaezue