seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Hebrews 3:7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
8 do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. 15 As has just been said:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.”
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.”
16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
Here's the link to the commentary I used.Lest any of you become hardened: Christians must be vigilant against hardness of heart. That hidden sin you indulge in — none suspect you of it because you hide it well. You deceive yourself, believing that it really does little harm. You can always ask forgiveness later. You can always die to self and surrender to Jesus in coming months or years. What you cannot see or sense is that your hidden sin hardens your heart. As your heart becomes harder you become less and less sensitive to your sin. You become more and more distant from Jesus. And your spiritual danger grows every day.
Do not harden your hearts: We often say our hearts become hard because of what others or circumstances do to us. But the fact is that we harden our own hearts in response to what happens to us.
Humans seem to get bored easily. We were all excited about this earth... until the snake came along and told us the grass is greener on the other side of the street. We were all excited about going to the Promised Land until people got a little tired of walking, started longing for the place they left behind, and decided to question God through Moses.Jesus was sent to clean up the mess left by Moses and company. Jesus was sent to clean up the family problems too. Remember, Abraham had two sons God promised to watch over. There was Ishmael.... He and his mom were sent away when Isaac was born. After all, Isaac was born to Abraham's wife, Sarah, and Ishmael was the son of the servant, Hagar. Ishmael was a bastard after all.... even though it was not Hagar's fault. She was sent to sleep with Abraham by Sarah. Sarah was sure she would never get pregnant so she sent Hagar to be the surrogate. Oh... and Hagar was Egyptian! So, Abraham's first son was from an Egyptian Slave.... but God made it right... He said He would watch over Ishmael and Ishmael's family.
Jesus came to clean up the mess for all humans, not just Abraham's babies though Sarah, or Shem's ancestors.
When we get bored, we tend to "forget" lessons learned and go off on our own tangents.
We will put it off until tomorrow.... We figure "Oh we can confess tomorrow." We can "come to Jesus" tomorrow. Sunday would be a better day than today. After all, Jesus isn't coming back today.
The title of this chapter in my Online Bible is "Warning against Unbelief". It's really easy now, after all this time has passed since Jesus walked out of the tomb, to say "Jesus isn't coming back today". It's really easy now to claim the whole Salvation Story is "fake news" made up to keep humans in subordinate.
Be careful.... Jesus might just surprise everyone and come back in broad daylight. He said "like a thief in the night" not "I'll be back at midnight on the third moon of a certain year". He said.... "Like a thief in the night" not "during the dark of night".
Don't get bored. There are still a lot of people who have no clue who Jesus was or where He came from or why He came in the first place or what He was sent to do. You need to let them know.... so, they can decide.
Humans are always so much more generous after a good "Come to Jesus" meeting.
Don't stop believing....
