Do Not Harden Your Hearts
Jesus Greater Than Moses
1 Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.
Warning Against Unbelief
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the desert,
9 where your fathers tested and tried me
and for forty years saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with that generation,
and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.'
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
'They shall never enter my rest.' "
12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 15 As has just been said:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion."
16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
Bee's Thoughts:
During the revival meeting tonight at my church, the speaker said that if after we have read or listened to God's word but did not mix it with faith, then it would not have effect on us... we won't mature spiritually. It is just like the seed that falls onto the hard ground that will not grow. Therefore, if we harden our hearts towards God's word, we "would never enter his rest".
The speaker futher challenged us to open our hearts to Jesus, surrendering our thoughts, desires, anxieties, and idols to Him. Yes, we need to fix our thoughts on Jesus (v1).
It's comforting to know that "God is the builder of everything" (v4) and I should let Him do the building instead of trying to build anything by myself. He is the builder of my career, my relationship, my ministry and my life.... "we are His house" (v6).
Dear Lord,
Tonight I want to surrender my career, my relationship, my ministry and my life to You. You are the best Architect and will build me into a beautiful "house" to show Your glory. I will put my trust in You and believe that Your timing is perfect. Tonight I want to fix my eyes on Jesus again and not be distracted by anything else. Thank You for the above passage and for what the speaker said tonight.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Tommy's Thoughts:
Our hearts hardened in a way we sometime don’t realize them until it’s too late. We need to be cautious of the deceitfulness of sin; in how it slowly slips into our lives and destroying us slowly. One of the sure ways for a devoted Christian to turn cold towards God is through busyness in our lives. Whenever we are so preoccupied with our works, we tend to move God to the bottom of our daily to do list.
Things slowly worsen from skipping bible reading to totally forget about God in everything we do. Eventually, our heart will be hardened to a point where we’ll turn from lukewarm to unbelief. If we persist in that state, God have no other choice but to leave us alone in our sin.
In Ezekiel 36:22-27, God promised to give us new hearts, new desires and new spirits if we would turn to Him. He’ll give us the endurance to run the “race”. To prevent having an unbelieving heart and to grow in our faith, we need constant nourishments in the form of Bible reading, prayers, worship, fellowship with other believers; to encourage and build each other up with love and concern.
Dear Lord, thank You for teaching me not to put other things in my life above You. But to always put You first in my priorities. To come to You with prayers and thanksgiving daily. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
.......the devotion of Bee & Tommy
