Hebrews 3 & 1 Corinthians 10 “Lessons from the Journey (Part 1)”

S = Hebrews 3:7-8, 12-13 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:

“Today, if you will hear His voice,

Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,

In the day of trial in the wilderness…”

Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 

O = This passage quotes from Psalm 95:7-11 words that every Jew at the time of Christ knew by heart “because its opening line served as a call to worship every Sabbath evening in the synagogue with these words. Hebrew ears perked up at their sound.” (R. Kent Hughes, Hebrews, 99). I have long meditated on the first phrase of this passage, “Today, if you hear (NIV) / if you will hear (NKJV).” It doesn't imply that we might hear His voice if the Spirit chooses to speak, but rather we will hear if we desire to listen. The issue here is not about His will, but about our heart, i.e., He is speaking today and we can hear Him if we want to listen. I am instructed by the original context in the wilderness that God did not create them to die in the wilderness, and that they had to choose it by hardening their hearts.

A = If “these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction” (1 Corinthians 10:11) then I need to ask myself some tough questions today, such as:

·         What might keep me from passing the trust test?

·         What might cause God to be angry with my generation?

·         So what have I seen God do, but remain unmoved? (Israel had seen 10 plagues, Red Sea parted, pillar of cloud/fire, manna, water, etc. The readers of Hebrews had heard or seen Jesus feed 5000 & 4000, heal the sick, deliver the possessed, calm the storm, rise from the dead, fill believers with the Holy Spirit, and fulfill all the prophesies—would they remain unmoved or respond in faith? Will I?

I know I miss the message all too often, but today I want to listen and encourage others to do the same… as long as it is still “Today”!

P = O Lord, open my ears to hear and my heart to trust. Let me not harden my heart in the desert of my circumstances and unmet desires but may trust spring up, and let me respond to your amazing love with a desire to follow you wherever you lead. I need to rest in the confidence that you are with me and that is always enough for my situation today. Amen.