October 18, 2023

Passage Read: Hebrews 3-4
Meditation Verses: 3:12-13

Thought

The writer is writing to believers, whom he calls brothers, and he warns them not to have a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. He goes on to say that sin is deceitful, and so we need to keep warning and encouraging one another so that our hearts are not hardened by it. It is possible for someone who professes belief and follows the Lord to become hardened by sinful behavior or sinful ideas, such that they turn away from the Lord and are lost. Hence the warning in these two chapters. No one is truly safe until they have finished this life in faithful pursuit of God. But if we continue in war against sin in ourselves, and if we welcome the warning and encouragement of others who help us in our war against sin, we can have assurance of our having entered God's rest, because we are at rest in peace with God, walking in obedience to Him rather than being at war with Him.

Application

I can never rest in my war against sin. That's when things get dangerous. As long as I am open to the Lord and to the encouragement of others to recognize and resist sin, I can have confidence that I've entered God's rest. In effect, it is the same thing as dying to self on a daily basis. Self puts its own desires and passions first, but dying to self let's go of what I want and seeks what God wants. It resists sin by being consumed with God's desires and mission, seeking first His kingdom and righteousness rather than my own kingdom or definition of good.