Be Faithful!

Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. [Hebrews 3.12-14]

To turn away from God is "evil and unbelieving." It is also characterized as "deceived by sin" and "hardened against God."

I want to explore this a little.

"Evil and unbelieving" in the same sentence leads me to believe that the two are closely related. Not believing God IS evil. Likewise, evil is not believing God. This is not surprising because elsewhere in the Bible it says, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin."

But the writer of Hebrews goes on... "Deceived by sin" could just as easily mean that our lack of faith is deceiving us as much as it could mean that stealing from someone deceives us. Frankly, in the context of this writing, it seems to me that a lack of faith (knowing that whatsoever is not of faith is sin) is indeed a deception!

"Deceived by sin" is joined in the same sentence with "hardened against God." This is no mistake either. To be deceived by sin (unbelief) is, in fact, to be hardened against God!

The writer of Hebrews instructs us to warn each other against evil and unbelieving hearts and being deceived by sin and hardened against God. It is a plea for faith in one another - an encouragement to have faith regardless of circumstances. It is our responsibility to other believers to build one another up in faith!

However, we cannot inspire faith in others and not walk in it ourselves.

Faith is not easy. Sometimes, the reward of faith "seems" delayed. Sometimes it just seems like we cannot muster enough faith to accomplish anything. But we should consider that faith and faithfulness may be looked at differently. Faithfulness carries (in my mind) a connotation of commitment. In other words, no matter what my faith actually sees or accomplishes, I want to be faithful to continue to believe. Regardless of outcome, I want my faith to remain true - and that is faithfulness!

Father, thank You for speaking to me so clearly today through these words in Hebrews!