Hebrews 6:7-8

Hebrews 6:7-8

“For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.” (NKJV)

We are having, for our area, a rather long, cold winter. Usually it snows a day or two, the snow melts, the sun comes out, and we begin the pattern again. A number of years ago, there was very little snow, but blistering cold. That winter was miserable and the cold seemed to have no purpose except just to bring misery. This year we are having storm after storm. The snow from the first storm at Christmas is still hidden somewhere under the snow from the storms in January and so forth. I know that this pattern is familiar for some because areas of our country have winters like that all the time. We don’t. And, to be honest, I’m a bit tired of all the snow. I would like a protracted period of sun and, actually, to see the ground again!

All that to say, that rain (snow being frozen rain) can appear as both a blessing and a curse. Rain that comes at the right time and gently enough is a blessing when it waters the plants. But torrential rain that floods can bring great devastation. When the floods come, the ground literally rejects the rain (usually due to saturation) and the excess water has to find somewhere to go, going toward lower ground.

Rain can be like the trials in our lives. Trials are necessary to grow our faith. We don’t want to hear that, but it’s true! Paul writes:

“Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality” (2 Cor. 8:1-2).

The churches in Macedonia were already extremely poor. That poverty in itself was a trial. The Lord brought them into another trial. Paul doesn’t tell us what the trial was, but he describes it as “a great trial of affliction.” For Paul to call any trial “great” tells us that it was indeed great. (Paul wasn’t much for exaggeration.) When we read between the lines, we can see that these churches embraced their trial, rather than rejecting it, for they received God’s grace for the trial and as a result, experienced an abundance of joy. They let the rain of the trial come into their lives, receiving God’s blessing, His grace to do so. And the result was they experienced His other blessing, joy.

We have a choice. We can receive a trial and accept it, trusting God to send His grace, or we can reject the trial. The writer to Hebrews says that, when we do that, the result is thorns and briars in our lives. Isn’t that true? We become angry and bitter. No one wants to be around us because we are either full of self-pity or prickly! The psalmist admonishes:

"Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness” (Psalm 95:8 NKJ).

We are told not to harden our hearts. We harden our own hearts when we get angry. And we get angry at God when we rebel against the trials that He permits. We don’t want the trial, so we reject it, hardening our hearts to His gentle teaching. Hebrews 11 (esp. 35-39) tells us great trials that many suffered. Those who suffered did not even receive the blessings from their trials in this life, preferring rather to receive the blessing of heaven. That may happen to us. While we will always receive God’s grace during a trial, we may not see any other benefit from it until we reach heaven. And that’s okay because heaven is the ultimate blessing!

The apostle Peter writes:

“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” (1 Peter 4:12-13 NKJ).

Trials shouldn’t surprise us, scare us, nor lead us to anger or doubt. Peter, writing, calls certain trials “fiery.” The word means conflagration (a large, disastrous fire) or calamity (major misfortune or loss). In other words, we are to not only expect enormous losses in our lives, but to rejoice in them and be glad with exceeding joy. Wow! I know that my natural tendency is to try to avoid fiery trials whenever possible (and to complain to anyone who will listen). But when I respond like that, I’m learning that I am thwarting God’s will in my life because trials help me be more like the Lord Jesus. When the rain comes, I need to open up my life and welcome it in. Out of the rain grows faith that trusts the Lord in the storm. And for that faith, I can be glad with exceeding joy.

© 2010 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Hebrews 6:1-6

“Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings, and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we shall do, if God permits. For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame.” (NASB)

There is a danger in what my grandmother used to call “backsliding.” I don’t hear the term much these days. In fact, to be honest, sin in the life of the Christians isn’t addressed much these days. We talk about self esteem and relationships and getting our finances in order. I rarely hear a preacher talk from the pulpit about the things in our lives that we shouldn’t be doing. And perhaps our preachers should begin to preach such things with boldness. There seems to be great weakness within the American Church today. We would benefit from such great preaching.

It is possible to outwardly look and act like a Christian and perhaps not be a Christian at all. Look at the description that the writer of Hebrews gives:

• once been enlightened
• have tasted of the heavenly gift
• have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit
• have tasted the good word of God
• have tasted of the powers of the age to come

Whether this is someone who is truly saved and fell away or someone who acted the part without internal surrender to the Spirit is unclear from the commentaries. Certainly it would be prudent not to assume that this couldn’t mean me! The Lord Jesus Himself talked about those who were sure they were saved:

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'” (Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV)

These people did great things in the Lord’s name. They prophesied, cast out demons, and did wonders! If we were to see such a person, we would be convinced they were Christians. We might even be compelled to follow them, to imitate their lives, the greatness of their works. And yet, the Lord warns us that there are such as these whom He doesn’t know. Are these among those of whom the writer of Hebrews says “fell away?”

There is a former pentecostal Christian minister who is now head of a strong atheist organization. This man spoke in tongues, preached the Word, wrote Christian musicals, prayed in public. He had a church and did everything we would expect from our own ministers and did it well! And now he has openly and completely rejected everything Christian, including Christ. It is obvious that he has fallen away from the faith. Was he ever saved? Certainly if you had asked him at that time if he was a born-again believer, he would have said “yes!” And yet now he rejects Christ.

Such a rejection doesn’t come overnight. One cannot be convinced of the truth of the gospel one day and wake up to openly reject it the next. No, this was the result of a journey, of listening to quiet, seductive voices that gave permission for doubt, for exploration of sin, likely in the name of honest intellectual pursuit. For this man is no dummy. He is convinced that his path is one of intellectual honesty. What he didn’t realize is that we shouldn’t trust our minds, our senses, our own conclusions for those things will deceive us. The apostle Paul knew of this deception and wrote:

1 Cor. 1:26-27 NKJ: “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.”

The things of God are not intellectually discerned, but spiritually discerned through the power of the Holy Spirit. When this man began to trust his own intellect, he began on the road to destruction. But more than that, in all appearances, even to his own heart, he was saved and fell away. If it can happen to him, then the possibility exists that it could happen to me. How, then, do I avoid such a terrible fate? By, as the writer of Hebrews says, pressing on to maturity in the faith. The last verse of chapter 5 stated that “solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (v. 14, NKJV). The Lord has not left us without resources. We have His Word and the Holy Spirit as our teacher. We need to be in the Word everyday, not just reading, but studying. Not just studying, but learning. Not just learning, but meditating. The Word needs to become such a part of who we are, what we chose, how we behave that there is no doubt that we are maturing in the faith. We need to be listening to those preachers who, rather than appealing to our flesh nature, make us uncomfortable and stretch us spiritually. We need to be seeking not the warm fuzzies of miracles, but the solid food of righteousness. We need to be stepping away from concern about our own needs, and trusting God as we care for the needs of others.

I know that I want to persevere until that day when my salvation is made complete by my presence in heaven with the Lord Jesus. I want to be one of those of whom He says, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That would be my prayer for all of the saints.

© 2010 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Hebrews 5:12-14

Hebrews 5:12-14

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (NKJV)

One way to discern whether or not we are mature in the faith is to look at this passage and then to think about the kind of teachings that minister to us: the kind of Christian books we read, the sermons that attract us, the teachers we like. Just because a teacher or a book is popular doesn’t mean that it is mature food for the mature believer.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that those who are unskilled in the word of righteousness are spiritual babies. That is, these believers need to learn again the basic things of the faith: how to live righteously, how not to sin, how to turn from temptation, how to trust the Lord. However, the mature believer has used her senses (has exercised them) in discerning both good and evil. She doesn’t have to rely on a Christian self-help book to know that gossip or envy or lust is bad; she knows that it is and turns from it. She knows how to recognize temptation and how to rely on prayer to avoid it.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Tim. 4:3-5 NKJV).

As we listen to various preachers or read Christian books, as maturing believers, we will become easily aware of who is offering milk and who is offering solid food. Unfortunately, much of American Christianity has become a business, rather than a ministry. And while the Christian industry is helpful in that we have all nature of books, Bible translations, study helps, videos, and other media for learning, it is also dangerous in that we may be attracted to the “top 10" lists (that which is popular), rather than challenging ourselves spiritually. We need to ask ourselves several questions:

• Do the books we read or the sermons we hear make us feel good (or better)?
• Are we still questioning whether or not (or when) we should turn from our sin?
• Do we struggle with the basic sins (lust, substance abuse, envy, gossip, etc.)?
• Do we want to be happy rather than obedient in suffering?
• Are we attracted to teachers who promise us happiness or material prosperity?

There are many other questions we could ask, but if we say “yes” to any of these, then there is a good chance that we are still babies in the faith and need to turn ourselves away from milk to meat. What’s interesting about babies is that they may not self-wean. In other words, babies may want to stay on mother’s milk (which is easy to ingest) rather than to move onto solid food which requires work to eat. As Christians, if we “wait” to mature, we may never! Paul warned Timothy (v. 5) to be watchful in all things and endure afflictions. One way we can be watchful is to be watchful or suspicious of any and all of our own motives! Even if what we are doing seems right, our motives may make it a sin. We may be doing what we are doing to avoid suffering. Our hearts are so wicked. Only through the power of the Spirit can the Lord create pure motives within us.

Paul writes:

“For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:2-7 NKJV).

There are two important truths here:

• Having a form of godliness, but denying its power
• Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth

These are the two summaries or reasons of the list of behaviors. In other words, if any of these other things is true about us, then these two things are likely true about us. Here is the list:

• Loving myself
• Loving money
• Boasting
• Prideful and/or haughty
• Blaspheme (saying God’s word says one thing when it says another)
• Disobedience to parents (Interesting that Paul would include this in a list to adults)
• Unthankful
• Unholy
• Unloving
• Unforgiving
• Slanderers (gossiping about others)
• Without self-control
• Brutal
• Despisers of good
• Traitors
• Headstrong
• Lovers of pleasure

I see myself listed here and I’m not happy about it. But the only way that I can change is to confess those sins, go to the Throne for forgiveness, and depend utterly upon the Spirit to purge them from my life. I need to set aside those teachings (books, sermons, everything) that encourage my immaturity and embrace those which compel me to grow up as a Christian!

© 2010 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Hebrews 4:14-16

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (NKJV)

Father God, in the Old Testament, established the priesthood through the line of Levi. Priests collected 10% of all offerings for their livelihood. In the Lord Jesus’ day, they had also become industrious in finding other money-making opportunities. (Remember Jesus in the Temple?) All that to say that the priesthood wasn’t poor. Priests had the time to sit around the discuss “great theological matters” and to continue to expand the Torah, placing more and more restraints on the behavior of the common Jews. Not only that, but the priests (now divided into a number of groups including the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes) were more concerned about imposing these minuscule laws than ministering to the needy among them.

At one point when Jesus was having dinner in Matthew’s home–a dinner attended by “many tax collectors and sinners” (Matthew 9:10)–the Pharisees criticized Him for hanging around with, in essence, those people. Jesus answered them by quoting from Hosea 6:6 that the Lord desires mercy and not sacrifice. In other words, the whole point of everything was to turn these people to God, something the priests weren’t doing.

The second thing in this passage is to understand that the High Priest was the one who went into the Holiest Place in the Temple (where the Ark of the Covenant was supposed to be) and acted as a representative of the people to God. It was there that the High Priest would present the offering for the forgiveness of sins and accept God’s forgiveness and mercy.

And so, the Lord Jesus is now our High Priest, standing before the Throne, interceding on our behalf. But more than that. He is a High Priest who lived on this earth poor and alone. He was tempted, but resisted and didn’t sin. He lived in a human body and understands first hand how we have to live, our frustrations, our weaknesses, our temptations. Because He understands, scripture tells us that we can come boldly to Him to get mercy and grace. We don’t have to try to come up with reasons or excuses. The Lord Jesus understands how desperately we need mercy, how desperately we need grace.

Mercy is particularly related in scripture to the forgiveness of sins. The psalmist writes:

“For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You” (Psalm 86:5 NKJV).

I love this verse. Father God is ready to forgive! Isn’t that amazing? We don’t have to fix anything or earn anything, we just have to ask and be willing to repent. And not only that, but God has abundant mercy. Mercy great enough to cover every contingency.

The apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians:

“what is the width and length and depth and height--to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (v. 18-19 NKJV).

Width and length and depth and height. God’s love is infinite and likewise His mercy which proceeds from His love.

The author of Hebrews also tells us that, because Jesus is our High Priest, we will find grace to help in time of need. Our greatest need for grace is for forgiveness. Johnston and Towner, in their great hymn “Grace Greater than our Sin,” wrote:

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt
Grace that is greater than all our sin!

We also need God’s grace in difficult situations (often in those situations that our own sin has caused). More than unmerited favor, grace is also the divine influence on the heart (Strong’s 5485). We need God’s influence on our hearts, on our choices, on our behavior. And we have it through God’s grace. We have the right to go boldly to the Throne, not timidly or hurriedly, but leisurely and boldly, to stand before the Father and ask for mercy, ask for forgiveness, ask for grace. And when we ask, He promises to give it to us.

© 2010 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Hebrews 4:12-13

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (NKJV)

It is easy to go along in life thinking that we’re okay. I know that there are times in my life when I deceive myself, thinking that I’m okay and following when the Lord when, if I were to be truly honest, I would know that isn’t true. But the deception is so comfortable. It’s much easier to convince myself that everything is okay between me and God then to come into His presence and ask His opinion.

While God is concerned about what I do, He is less concerned about what I do than why I do it. That doesn’t mean what I do isn’t important. But what I do can often appear to be righteous without actually being so. The Lord Jesus taught us:

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'” (Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV).

These people that were cast out were doing wonderful things in the name of Jesus. They prophesied, cast out demons, and did miracles. And not in the name of some other deity, but in the name of Jesus. And yet, the Lord Jesus says that they had not done His will. His will is to match the thoughts and intents of our heart to His. Thus, why I do something is much more important than what I do. My thoughts and intents much be to do His will, to glorify Him, rather than to seem holy and righteous for my own purposes.

The apostle Paul echoed this same sentiment:

“Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:12-15 NKJV).

The foundation of which Paul speaks is that foundation laid by the Lord Jesus. Verse 11 says: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” If I do something that I want to be lasting, I must first do what it is the Lord Jesus wants me to do. Even if what I want to do appears to be righteous and well within Christian boundaries, if I am not doing what the Lord Jesus wants, then my work is in vain. I am building on a false foundation and what I am doing will be lost.

How many times have I decided to do something (on my own) and then asked God to bless it? Rather than first going to Him in prayer and meditation on the Word and finding out what He wants? My first order of the day should be to report to duty to my Master and find out what He wants me to do. The problem is, we are often afraid that He will ask us to do something that we don’t want to do or for which we feel ill-equipped. We don’t trust Him, so we take matters into our own hands, and simply ask Him to bless what feels more comfortable to us.

We are deceiving ourselves and building on a false foundation. And God sees through it all. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:7-9 NKJV).

Whatever we sow, we will reap. And God sees it all. Because He loves us, He will not allow us to deceive ourselves forever. He is constantly bringing back the Truth of His Word into our lives that we might see clearly our own motives and change them where they are wrong. I’m so glad that Father God is willing to be patient with me and continually brings me back to the Truth of His Word. I’m so easily deceived. I want to have His Truth in my life. I want what I do to be worthwhile.

© 2010 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Hebrews 4:11-12

“Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (NKJV)

I am a fairly deceived and deceitful woman. Oh, it’s not that I go about lying day after day. I do my best to be as honest as possible. But I think that I often deceive myself by lying about my own heart condition. Rather than spending time in prayer (who has time these days?) seeking God’s will, I make my own decision, ask God to bless it, and then blissfully go on my way thinking that His “stamp of approval” (through my request) solves it all. And I think I’m not alone in this, but rather am surrounded by many. There are things that I think American Christians do, thinking we are doing the “right” thing, when what we are doing is actually rebellious and self-centered. We give . . . a little. We pray . . . a little. We respect . . . a little. We have compassion . . . a little.

Last night we were watching a Canadian TV program where a group of contractors went down to New Orleans to build a house, one house, in a neighborhood destroyed by Katrina. Most of the residents of the neighborhood were seniors; many were grandparents raising their grandkids. Others from the neighborhood drove by, crying out why their houses weren’t being rebuilt. It seems to me with all the wealth in the churches in America, that we could have single-handedly rebuilt that county and not been the worse for it.

Everyday overworked teachers try to give one-on-one attention to kids in classes that are growing larger and larger. Many students are struggling with basic skills (reading and math) and would cherish a 30 minute visit from a volunteer simply willing to read to them or help with a math page. Surely some of us have 30 minutes a week to give.

Day after day, neglected, rejected seniors sit in chairs or lay in their beds in nursing homes. Their families have stopped visiting (if they ever came) because of the depressive nature of the place. These older folks would welcome a visit, reading a story or two from a recent magazine or the newspaper, or simply a song, a prayer, and a smile. Surely we have an hour a week to go visit the lonely.

Matthew 25:34-36 (NKJ): “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'”

It is true that we will always have the poor, the needy, the desperate among us. It is also true that the Lord Jesus commanded us to live out His will by reaching past our own needs and desires to those who are struggling more than we are. The economic downturn has increased the amount of need within our communities. Many programs are on the chopping block for public funding. It is at such a time that the Church has its greatest opportunity! This is the time for us to forsake our programs that entertain to reach out–stretching ourselves far past what we think our limits are–to those who are confused and hurting by their losses. One elderly lady, in the TV program last night, told about climbing into the tree in her yard with a single blanket, and watching her house float down the street. She sat in that tree for almost ten hours until help arrived, thinking about how she watched everything she owned drift away. Nothing was ever recovered.

We may think that we already live lives of compassion and giving, but it isn’t enough until we have truly sought God. Sometimes I think we don’t ask God because we are afraid of what He will say. We are afraid that He will ask us to give more, to live more sacrificially, to have less for ourselves and our family. We will give, but not to the point that it changes our lives significantly or puts our own futures at risk. But God knows our hearts! He knows that when we give only so much, we are refusing to trust Him completely. The writer of Hebrews calls this an “example of disobedience.” This is why I say that I often am deceived and deceitful. Rather than asking God, I decide something and ask Him to bless it. While I appear to be obedient, I am deceiving myself because I am being disobedient. The Lord Jesus told us that if someone demands our coat, we are to give him our cloak, too (Matthew 5:40). In other words, if someone needs, we give more, graciously and generously, trusting God to supply our need (if we actually end up having one).

I would challenge you today to check your heart attitude. Are you holding onto future expectations and hopes? Does that limit how much you give of your time and resources to others? Let us not be deceived nor deceitful, but rather wholly trusting of a God Who loves us without fail that we might fully enter into His rest.

© 2010 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Hebrews 4:1-2

“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.” (NKJV)

There are two kinds of rest: the rest (peace and joy) that we have with the Lord everyday when we walk closely with Him and the eternal rest of Heaven. The writer of Hebrews has just talked about the Israelites who, through their rebellion toward God, were not allowed to enter the Promised Land. It seems very possible for us to deny ourselves of that very thing we have wanted by our own unwillingness to live by faith.

Unfortunately, the word “faith” is bantered around so much these days that it’s almost impossible to know whether or not we truly have the kind of faith Hebrews talks about. We talk about believing in Jesus as having faith. James writes: “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble!” (James 2:19 NKJ). Why do the demons believe? Because they know that someday God will deal with their rebellion and sin against Him. We believe and fail to tremble because we think that God is so tolerant that He will just forgive and let us go on in our rebellion. Why. we believe in Jesus! That should be enough. The demons believe and it won’t save them.

James precede this verse with a discussion about works:

“Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.; Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:17-18 NKJV)

Our works are not what save us, but they are what demonstrate our faith. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his own son as a demonstration of faith. This particular incident is used several times in scripture as the symbol of faith. What does it show us?

Abraham and Sarah were both old, past the time of childbearing. Their one son Isaac was the child of promise. God had told Abraham that through Isaac Abraham would have descendants that numbered more than the stars. And then God asked Abraham to kill Isaac in a sacrifice to Him. Without a moment of protest, Abraham planned to do exactly what God asked, even to the moment of holding the knife above Isaac’s chest, ready to plunge it into his heart. Abraham didn’t know that God would stop him and was fully prepared to kill his son. He so believed God that he believed that God would bring about His promise even through the lifeless body of the son he had killed.

Are we willing to have that kind of faith? What is it that is most precious to us? Would we be willing to destroy it in order to demonstrate our faith? Are we willing to do whatever God asks simply because He loves us? If we are honest, most of us have built up walls between us and God to protect ourselves from God us asking the hard questions. These walls are built of the things we hold dear (dearer than we hold God) and are things we will not let go of. We want to think that God wants us to be happy and so He would never ask us to give up that which we cherish.

The Israelites held their creature comforts dear. Even as slaves living in Egypt, food and water was plentiful. It may be that the lush lands around the Nile offered great farms and that crops and herds were in abundance. Certainly we know that Egypt was wealthy when the rest of the world was in drought. God took the Israelites from the green of Egypt to the brown of the desert to prove to them that He alone would provide for them. But they refused to trust Him—refused to have faith—and instead complained and protested. God forgave and forgave, but they refused to turn from their rebellious thinking. And so, He refused to forgive and denied them entrance into the Promised Land.

He refused to forgive and denied them entrance into the Promised Land.

God took them to a place where they had no resources so that they would rely on Him. God has taken me to that place and I need to learn to rely on Him and Him alone. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 NKJV). Faith is trusting God when I cannot see that He is going to provide. Even to the point of death and beyond. Faith if knowing that God will do the best for me even if I never see or understand that what He did was the best.

Last summer, when we were planning to move into our RV, someone mentioned to us that a local campground in the high desert might need a camp host. It sounded wonderful because the space rent would be free and we would be living in one of our favorite camping places. We would still be able to put up a shed and have a screen room for our extra things (our treadmill and such). We were so disappointed when that opportunity didn’t materialize and couldn’t understand why God would shut that door . . . until last week. Last week, during the heavy rains, the dam for the campground lake broke and the entire camp was under one to two feet of water. We would have lost everything that was outside in the shed and screen room. God knew what was going to happen and protected us.

Even if we never knew the reason why God shut that door, we needed to have faith that He only wants the best for us. We need to understand that faith—trusting Him without seeing—is the basis for our relationship with Him, for our salvation. We need to fear, lest we fall short of the greatest promise, Heaven.

© 2010 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.