In I Corinthians 10, Paul described how all the Israelites
who came out of Egypt had done the same things, yet many of them did not please
God, being focused on their own desires and lusts rather than on pleasing
God. II Peter I stressed the need to
make sure of our salvation by the development of spiritual attitudes. It is very easy for people to think that
because they have done all the proper things they are okay, and resist making
any changes in their lifestyle. Such an
attitude may well prevent him from ever yielding themselves to God. I Corinthians 10:12 warns, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth
take heed lest he fall.”
Hebrews 3:7-15 warns against getting the idea we are okay
and refusing to let God have his way in our lives. “Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit saith,
To-day if ye shall hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the
provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers
tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation,
and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my
ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall
not enter into my rest.
Take heed, brethren,
lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the
living God. But exhort one another
daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the
deceitfulness of sin. For we are made
partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto
the end; While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your
hearts, as in the provocation.”
Many of Israelites who came out of Egypt were only
interested in escaping their slavery.
They had no interest in serving God or being his people. Whenever God asked them to do something they
didn’t like or might be uncomfortable, they complained about things not being
like they expected and refusing to follow him, choosing to back to Egypt even
though God supplied all their needs and blessed them mightily. They really didn’t believe God’s promises
of a better life if they would follow him completely. As a result all but a very few of them died
in the wilderness without ever seeing the Promised Land.
The author of Hebrews is warning that there may be some in
the church today with similar attitudes, becoming part of the church to escape
some physical or emotional problem, but with no real interest in becoming what
God wants them to be. We need to
encourage each other to follow the Lord completely so that we don’t get caught
up in getting things such as fame or wealth, or power and begin to resent and
revbel against God’s commands. Taking
part in the blessings of being his children will require submitting ourselves
to him completely and depending on him to keep his promise.
It is pretty foolish to sacrifice eternal rewards because
you want a piece of candy right now, yet that is essentially what many of the
Israelites did. Each person who came out
of Egypt made their own choice, as we see in Hebrews 3:16-19. “For
some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt
by Moses. But with whom was he grieved
forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the
wilderness? And to whom sware he that
they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because
of unbelief.” All of them had the
same opportunity, but some chose to
trust God completely, and were allowed to enter the Promised Land, while others
chose not to submit and trust God, and were not allowed to enter.
Today, we have the same opportunity to choose whether to
enter into God’s kingdom or seek immediate gratification. Hebrews 4:1-3 warns, “Let us fear therefore, lest haply, a promise being left of entering
into his rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good tidings preached
unto us, even as also they: but the word of hearing did not profit them,
because it was not united by faith with them that heard. For we who have believed do enter into that
rest; even as he hath said, As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into
my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”
If we begin to look back and long for the fish, cucumbers,
leeks and garlic we used to have in Egypt instead of enjoying the manna God has
given, like the Israelites did we may well miss out completely on eternity,
because as Jesus said, in Luke 9:62, “…No
man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom
of God.” Philippians 3:13-14
describes the attitude we need to have. “Brethren, I could not myself yet to have
laid hold: but one thing [I do], forgetting the things which are behind, and
stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal
unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” We mustn’t focus on either the things we have
given up to be a Christian, or on our past accomplishments and failures. The only way we are going to get the maximum
benefit from being a child of God is to focus on what he wants us to do
today. If we don’t believe him enough to
obey, we will never see whether he keeps his promise.
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