Hebrews 3:1
“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of
you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” A few thoughts came into my mind, after
rereading this for the third time this morning.
Paul is not addressing unbelievers; he is without any doubt addressing
those who walk with God, those whom God has blessed in this world. Your first thoughts may be that is not
addressing me, but I do know a few people that need to read that verse and
apply it to their life. Stop, it does
apply to you and me, we have a belief problem, but often it is off our
radar.
It is my personal belief, that what the world needs to see
is Christians who believe God, Christians who are not ashamed to be considered
a fool for Christ, who listen for His voice and have already made the decision
to obey. But so many have been taken
captive by the deceitfulness of sin.
They have grown wise in their thinking, and have acquired much of what
the world calls success, and what is referred to as success brings with it
pride and arrogance. Take care,
brothers, because there is not room for pride and arrogance in a believers
heart, it will always lead to an evil and unbelieving heart, it will lead you
to fall away from the fellowship of other believers, it will lead you away from
the living God. Is that where you find
yourself? It matters not what title you
have at the local church, it may be pastor, or teacher, elder, or deacon, but have
you began to trust in programs or money more than you trust in God. You still say the right words, but your heart
is unbelieving and evil.
It is so important to remember that this is referring to a
saved man, a man or woman who trusts in the Lord, they have walked in the years
of drought and have not feared, they have placed their roots into the stream of
faith, Jeremiah 17:7-8, talks of such a man, but both the saved and the unsaved
are referred to in the same chapter verses 5-6, have verse 9 in common. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
sick; who can understand it?” Verse 10 gives a clear understanding of who can
understand your heart and mind, “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give
every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
I also believe that not one of us who are in Christ wants to
fall away from the living God, so what are some signs you and I can look
for? Jesus said to watch your heart for
these things; evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness;
all of these come from within our hearts and defile a person. You may want to
look this up in Mark 7:26. For these
reasons, we need to have an accountability partner, and we must have the fellowship
of a local church. Do not believe that
you can live the Christ life without being in fellowship with others who also
are living in this world system, in this present darkness. Hebrews 3:13!
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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