Wait…..what did He say?
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. 2 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.
My hope is there is a little fear in you as you read that passage; fear of God is a good thing. If not, slow down and read it again with the understanding of His rest, as heaven. Coming short of heaven; coming short because we did not mix our hearing of his word with the action of a faith proclaiming it. There are many examples and roads to go down here; the parable of the soils where God’s word fell on different soils and produced differently; the calling out in the epistle of James to live out our faith by works; the similarities of the scariest words in the Bible of Matthew 7:21-23. I could go on with how we may hear the word of God, and not live our lives effected by the word of God. Faith is the verb that produces change in our lives; faith changes what we feel in our soul and is continually fed by the word of God. As James said, “Faith without works is dead,” so is faith without the word of God.
The third chapter of Hebrews points to the failing of the Israelites that wandered in sin in the desert for 40 years. How God did not let that sinful generation enter his rest of the promised land that he was providing them, after rescuing them from slavery. They saw the proof of God’s provision for 40 years even daily in food, water, and direction, but they still had sinful hearts that rebelled and lacked faith. It is simply hard for us to understand their hardened hearts. Look at your life; at the examples that he has given you of his work in your life. Look at how we still continue to sin and rebel even daily against him. The closer I get to God, the deeper the conviction of my sin and failures against him sting.
Matthew Henry wrote, “The word is preached to us that we may profit by it, that we may gain spiritual riches by it; it is a price put into our hands to get wisdom, the rich endowment of the soul. There have been in all ages a great many unprofitable hearers; many who seem to deal much in sermons, in hearing the word of God, but gain nothing to their souls thereby; and those who are not gainers by hearing are great losers.” Faith is a work in the soul that is accomplished by the word of God. Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. It is a work of God that does inside of us what we cannot do on our own. If He is stirring the inquisitiveness of your soul, pray and pursue him to become blessed by the faith that produces eternal heaven. You will enter a rest for your short time here that the world does not understand, for you will no longer live for this world. You will begin to see the eternal rest that awaits you as one who has the faith to repent and BELIEVE. In that action of the soul is the eternal promise of heaven.
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