Demonstrating Our Appreciation

Hebrews 12:22-29

“But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:22-24)

A young man we’ll call Jack was needing a place to stay. A couple of friends of mine offered to allow him to stay with them if he’d help out with the groceries and the house work. He told them he’d gotten a job close by but they found he wasn’t going to work. He regularly ate all the food the lady had prepared for the family, refused to clean his room, and stayed out as late as he wished, waking them up when he came home.

They confronted him about the behavior, and he promised to do better, but nothing changed. Finally they found evidence that he had been using drugs in the home and forced him to leave. When he resisted they called the police and he finally left. They were shocked to learn that he had a criminal record and left only because he was on probation and any charges would have landed him in prison again.

In a similar manner, we are on God’s property, even in his very home. We are there by his choice, not because of some inherent right. He has the right to decide what is allowed in his home. We have no right to be there if we will mot live according to his standards. If we abuse his concern and hospitality, we can expect our privilege may be revoked just as my friends did their offer to the young man. Other families have been forced to take the same action with their own children. They are still their children, but they are not permitted to live in their parents home. If we are God’s children, we do not lose that, but we may lose our privileges as his children.

“See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” (Hebrews 12:25-27)

Sometimes children who are excluded from their home attempt to force their parents to let them come back by threats of physical violence. If the parents are strong enough or can get help. The son or daughter will be stopped. God will not be intimidated by our threats. He can shake the entire world just by speaking, and will one day destroy the entire world. Like the Jack, we need to appreciate what he has done for us, giving back more than he has required, just as a way of showing our appreciation.

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29)

Refusal to obey the guidelines my friends had established demonstrated that Jack did not appreciate what they were doing for him in providing a place for him to live, or the food the wife prepared. He was not concerned that both of them had to work to provide it, nor that they had food for themselves, and had no respect for them. People who don’t obey God have the same selfish attitude. They have no appreciation that it cost him his only son to provide their salvation. They show no respect for him or his power. He is a consuming fire and will not continually endure such treatment. He will judge them for their actions.