Through the Bible - Jeremiah 10-11, 1 Timothy 4
Good morning,
I spoke at a business meeting the other day about a new product. In the introduction I said that a successful business needs know who they are, know how they got to where they are; in order to know where they are going.
For today's verse we'll turn to the book of Hebrews to chapter 3 in a passage that encourages, challenges, and exhorts us to "be faithful". The passage shows this same sort of process knowing our past, including mistakes, being aware of our current position, that we remain steadfast in our hope for the future.
Today's passage has "bookends" that tell us instead "if you will hear His voice" and not harden your hearts we will be what we already have become, and that is partakers, true followers of Christ. That is being faithful.
Heb 3:12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. NKJV
Verse 13 warns us to beware of the deceitfulness of sin which will take us away from "walking" with God.
Satan has been that way from the beginning, deceiving, casting doubt on God's Word, His promises. You can go all the way back to Genesis 3 where he said "you will not surely die". You need to realize that;
"he was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. " John 8:44
Repeated rejection of Jesus and God's Word will lead to a progressive "hardening of the heart" a kind of spiritual artheriosclerosis, heart disease, hardening of the arteries.
I'll end with a portion of today's New Testament reading from 1 Timothy 4, from The Message:
1 Tim 4:6-5:1
You've been raised on the Message of the faith and have followed sound teaching. Now pass on this counsel to the Christians there, and you'll be a good servant of Jesus. Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God — no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart. This is why we've thrown ourselves into this venture so totally. We're banking on the living God, Savior of all men and women, especially believers.
Get the word out. Teach all these things. And don't let anyone put you down because you're young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving counsel, teaching. And that special gift of ministry you were given when the leaders of the church laid hands on you and prayed — keep that dusted off and in use.
Cultivate these things. Immerse yourself in them. The people will all see you mature right before their eyes! Keep a firm grasp on both your character and your teaching. Don't be diverted. Just keep at it. Both you and those who hear you will experience salvation.
That is my challenge for you today. Don't be diverted, just keep at it!
In Christ,
Mike
Heb 3:7-16
Be Faithful
(Ps 95:7-11)
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:
"Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
In the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
And saw My works forty years.
10 Therefore I was angry with that generation,
And said, 'They always go astray in their heart,
And they have not known My ways.'
11 So I swore in My wrath,
'They shall not enter My rest.'"
12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said:
"Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."
NKJV
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