hawk sleeping

Harden Not Your Hearts

January 13, 2005 Heb 3:7-14

The Holy Spirit says: Oh, that today you would hear his voice, "Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion in the day of testing in the desert, where your ancestors tested and tried me and saw my works for forty years. Because of this I was provoked with that generation and I said, "They have always been of erring heart, and they do not know my ways." As I swore in my wrath, "They shall not enter into my rest."" Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart, so as to forsake the living God. Encourage yourselves daily while it is still "today," so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin. We have become partners of Christ if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm
until the end.

Harden Not Your Hearts...we are reminded again of the Israelites in the desert. They rebelled against Moses and God. The forty years were a time that was too long for them to remain faithful. The true follower remains faithful until the end. The real partner of Christ does not doubt the "beginning of the reality" but holds it close to heart. Taking courage in the moment and not giving in to the false life of sin, we prepare ourselves now for God's eternal rest that awaits us.

The false ways and weaknesses of the Israelites are in many ways my own very human tendencies. Listening with an open heart to the Word of God helps remind me that I need to not give in to the weaknesses of the moment but stay steadfast in my faith.