Day 641: Today! - Hebrews 3 vs 7 - 19

7-9 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. 10-11 Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, 'they shall not enter my rest.’”

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.  13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today”, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14-15  For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

16-18 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned,  whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. Hebrews 3:7-19 (English Standard Version)

What was the writer's deep concern for his fellow Jews who'd believed on Jesus for salvation?(vs 12)

He was afraid that some who started the journey of faith in Christ might fall away from God through unbelief. And he adds that 'unbelief' is an evil condition of the heart. Jesus told a story of a man sowing seed in a field which fell on different types of ground. Some was rocky, some thorny, and some was good soil. It was only the seed that fell on good soil that went on to produce a lasting crop. And Jesus explained: “As for the seed in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:15)

Christians have differed over the ages as to whether a person who is truly saved can ever lose their salvation. I think the story Jesus told, and what the writer of Hebrews is saying, steer us in the right direction. It's obvious that some people do set off on the Christian road, but give up along the way. But the deeper issue is that we can't see their heart. We don't know if there was good soil to start with, or if the seed never really took root. But what does the writer advise us to do in vs 13?

He says we should help and encourage one another each and every day! We mustn’t base our confidence on some past 'decision' we made to follow Jesus. That decision may have been made in an emotional setting, or to please our parents, or because our friends did it. The real issue is where do we stand today. Are our hearts eager to learn more of Jesus and to grow stronger in faith? Do we yearn to love Him more? Or are we still in love with the world and being led astray by the deceitful attractions of sin?

What does he say it is that shows our faith is real and will guarantee our salvation? (vs 14-15)

We will be clinging to Christ day by day, and pressing on by faith to reach journey's end. To use an old fashioned word, we 'persevere' in what we have believed. We build upon the profession of faith we made. We endeavour to grow in our understanding of all of God’s word. He used an example that was well known to Christians who were from a Jewish background. He reminds them of how so many of the people God rescued out of Egypt didn’t reach the promised land. They died along the way because they didn't go on believing that God was able to care for them and bring them to His promised rest. (vs 19)

Following Jesus is a daily activity. We need to look to Him every day for grace to persevere. And it's good for those who love Christ to encourage each other daily, so that none will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, or give up when the going gets hard.