A Promise is a Promise

Hebrews 3:16-19

A promise is a promise, especially with it comes from our Creator, and it was first given to Abraham in Geneses 12:7, a promised land, the land of Canaan.  And we understand that the chosen people were enslaved in Egypt and God used a man named Moses to lead them to the land of promise.  But many who had been chosen, never entered that land, verse 19 gives this insight: “So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” 

Often, when we read over the cost of their unbelief, our minds do not go to what an unbelieving heart cost others.  It cost their children 40 years in a wilderness going to funerals, watching their older brothers and sisters, their mothers and dads, and even grandparents die and be buried.  The promise was theirs, but most did not believe the promise, they had misplaced faith in a man, Moses, and when things got hard they rebelled.  Rebellion will always come when the people lose faith in the object of that hope, and these people, the ones who followed Moses had misplaced their hope in Moses, and not in the God who parted the Red Sea.

Are you in a wilderness of unbelief?  Have you misplaced your faith in a church or preacher?  Who is the object of your faith?  Do you have any understanding of what has been promised to you, and I’m not talking in the hereafter. You and I have a responsibility to “act like Jesus tells the truth” that is faith, and it is faith that others watching will desire.  This world system is built on self, greed, and putting your trust in governments, Corporations, money, or anything but the promises of Jesus Christ.  So unless we act on those promises, unless we teach them at home, and unless our Children and grandchildren see the object of our faith, will they not also wander in the wilderness of unbelief?

Many of us often go to church, we attend Bible studies, but we seem to fall short, we still live life on our terms.  If you are on that road, and you are sick of self, sick of always coming up short, it is time to grit your teeth and ask God to guide you to “How.”  Psalm 119:9-11 gives us this, “How can a young man keep his way pure?  By guarding it according to your word.  With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!  I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”  What you and I store up and treasure in our hearts is what we will draw from in time of need, in times of catastrophe, so store up His word, know and put to memory His promises; then when you hear His voice you will know how to answer.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice