City Life Starter

Written by Aisha Darwesh

The Word

‘Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.’

–Hebrews 3:12-19 ESV

‘“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.’

–Matthew 6:30,34 MSG

‘Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God : I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’ And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord God .” ‘

–Ezekiel 11:17-21 ESV

Aisha’s Analysis

Today’s passage from Hebrews shows us that we have a choice when it comes to listening to God’s voice: 1) We can choose to be tender-hearted and open to what God says; or, 2) we can willingly harden our hearts and close ourselves off to His voice and instructions. 

The verses in Hebrews 3 above state that a hard heart results from the deceitfulness of sin (v. 13). In other words, we can be lured into sin via deception and end up with a hardened heart towards God and a restless existence. Conversely, by choosing to believe in God and act in accordance with His promises and commands, we can keep our hearts in a softened state towards Him, enjoy His fellowship, experience His blessings, and enter into His rest. 

 One key to trusting God is realizing that He is good and will take care of you. On the flip side, not trusting in God will cause you to gravitate towards other things (usually of the sin variety) and that are sure to disappoint. 

The author of Hebrews alludes to the faithless generation wandering in the wilderness with hearts far from God. This is a cautionary example to all believers that just because God delivers you out of sin (as He delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt) does not mean that your entrance into His rest is guaranteed. That will require faith and obedience to God on your part. 

Application

Carefully read the verses from Hebrews 3 above again. They clearly tell us how to stay in a softened state toward God: 

• Exhort one another every day (Hebrews 3:13) – Get around other believers and get encouraged by the promises of God; 
• Hold our original confidence firm until the end (Hebrews 3:14) – Don’t let go of the confident hope you have in Christ. Let hope in Christ be an anchor for your soul; 
• Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. (Hebrews 3:15) – Stay in the present moment and find out what God is saying today. Don’t get stuck in the past. Don’t worry about the future. Trust God with everything you’ve got right now. Find out what He is calling you to do, and do it!

Prayer

Father God, forgive me for the times I’ve hardened my heart to Your instructions and promises. Help me to see that trusting You is my best bet. Lord, lead me into the rest that results from feasting on Your faithfulness. In Jesus’ name, amen.