Hebrews 3:15-19 & 4:1-2

Hebrews 3:15-19 & 4:1-2 “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

Faith unlocks the door to heaven, to the kingdom of God, to salvation. Nothing else pleases God and provides victory in our lives. How much easier it would be for us humans to know God if we could come through the doors of rational thinking: through knowledge, wisdom, or our senses. But God does not allow us to approach him according to our human abilities; He demands unmitigated faith in his existence, in that which we cannot smell, touch, hear, or see with our natural abilities. We can read the Bible all we want or we can make long prayers to him, but without energized faith in his reality, these activities will profit us little. The message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Faith is the catalyst to victory in a Spirit-led life. We must believe in Christ, the Alpha and the Omega. We must trust in God's active involvement with us and the reality of his plan for our lives: this is a victorious life of faith and hope in God.

Ten of the twelve who spied out the Promised Land came back with a story of giants in the land that were too big and too powerful to conquer. They testified the Israelites were as ants compared to the inhabitants of this new land. The ten despaired, for they lacked vision that the children of Israel could defeat such a mighty foe. In their rational thinking, they lacked the power to accomplish God's work. The ten were right that giants are not easily overcome, and they knew the giants controlled the precious Promised Land because of their strength and power. These realities hardened the hearts of the spies because they lacked faith to trust in God's care and to believe He would overcome any obstacle preventing the children of Israel from inhabiting their place of rest. Rational thinking, knowledge, wisdom and their visceral senses convinced them of the impossibility of inhabiting the land of Israel. With hearts fainting from unbelief, God's chosen people agreed with the ten and not with Caleb and Joshua, so God judged them harshly for their hard hearts and made them wander in the wilderness for another 40 years until all who failed to believe God's word passed away. Their bones were left in the wilderness because God cannot lead people anywhere who lack faith to enter into his rest, his accomplished work. God's planned for his people to inherit the land of promise, but the children of Israel lacked faith to enter into his work; in other words, they did not believe God had accomplished the work that would fulfill his promises.

Yes, believers use their minds to navigate this secular world, but when we look to God to fulfill his plan in our lives, we need faith, a firm belief in God's intricate involvement in our lives. Facing the obstacles of life, we should constantly remind each other that God delivered us from Egypt, the land of sin and death. As we fully appreciate that deliverance, we will understand the land of promise is already ours. By faith, we live each day in his land of blessings, a land of rest. We forsake worrying about tomorrow and rest in Christ's finished work. Such faith challenges all of us, but God desires us to rest in his sufficiency, his eternal supply. As He promised a land to the Israelites, He promised you an abiding place, a place of safety in Christ. Therefore, step out in faith today, believing God will supply his best for you. Since He has already redeemed your soul through the miracle of salvation, He will advance your spiritual life from glory to glory. As you rest in God's strength and yield to the Spirit, God will lead you to green pastures, new experiences with him. He will increase your desire to do his will and not yours. Yes, for many of us, we see giants in the land and wonder how we can overcome them. God says to each of us, "Rest in me and believe in the work I have accomplished." As we rest in the assurance that He is faithful and true, we will not let our hearts become fearful or hardened by unbelief. As you trust him, God will richly bless you and make your life fruitful for him.