Hebrews 4:1
When reading a verse like the one above it brings fear to my
heart, not for myself, but for the many who did what I did, joined a church but
did not enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus being God knew all things, and
from the beginning he knew that man wanted to be in control, that he wanted a
god that was like him, or one that he made. Jesus also knows that mankind is willing to be very religious
and the more his religion requires the better he performs. Jesus knew that to ask a person to deny
self and by faith to trust in His atonement, His finished work on the cross,
the victory over sin was going to be a stumbling block for many. It was for me for 27 years, I believed
in my head, but was fearful of entering into His rest, it came down to this, I
was not sure Jesus loved me and I had many reasons to believe that no one who
knew me could really love me.
Hebrews 4:1, “Therefore, while
the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed
to reach it.” Most of
my life on this planet I’ve been admonished not to fear. Fear is the opposite of faith, but both
the Old and New Testaments have one theme in common, fear God. What does that mean? Is God not our Father, has He not
spoken of loving us so much that He allowed His only Son to die in our place,
and without question the answer is yes, that is the gospel. I find myself coming back to that He is
Creator God and I am created, His ways are not my ways, and His thoughts are
higher than my thoughts. I am the
only creation that was made in His likeness, you and I have this in common with
God; we were given the ability to reason.
My prayer for
all of us who struggle is found in Psalm 86:11, “Teach
me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your
name.” And when we have
learned to apply this verse to our life, it will not mean we are free from
trials and troubles, but we will learn to believe, trust, and wait on our
loving Father. As I ponder on
these thoughts, I found myself in the book of Micah chapter 7 and verse 7, “But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for
the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.” Remember that God has given you the ability to
reason, in that way you are in His likeness, and it is of eternal importance, what
is the object of your faith? There
is one truth, one God and one baptism, “Today, if
you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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