Bible Diary - Hebrews 4:7-13

June 15, 2008

These words remind me of one of God’s great attributes, patience. After all these years, it is still “today” for all who have not responded to God’s inner call. God’s rest still awaits.

4:7 So God again ordains a certain day, “Today,” speaking through David after so long a time, as in the words quoted before, “O, that today you would listen as he speaks! Do not harden your hearts.” 4:8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken afterward about another day. 4:9 Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. 4:10 For the one who enters God’s rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works. 4:11 Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience. 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart. 4:13 And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

I have been re-reading the C.S. Lewis classic, Mere Christianity, in which he talks at length about how the busyness of modern life tends to crowd out serious thought about Jesus Christ; who he is and why it matters. Such thought and meditation starts, of course, with serious study of the Bible. I have come to deeply appreciate how, through purposeful study of the Bible, the word of God, can “judge the desires and thoughts” of my heart. They are often not what I thought they were. I can try to hide my motivations from myself, but there’s no hiding my true thoughts and desires from God. The “Sword of the Spirit” has sharp edges, indeed. I am beginning to understand what it means to stand naked and exposed before the all-knowing and all-powerful God. It’s often not a comfortable position.

Dave, squirming under the penetrating gaze of God.

-sdg-

Posted by Dave | Filed Under Bible