is distracting us from God is deceptive and deceitful; it lures us away with false promises and empty pleasures. We can give each other encouragement because we are not alone on this trip. Remember that we have a tour guide. Christ is our companion on this trip.
Notice that here again we have one of those conditional statements in verse 14. We belong to Christ as long as we stick to what we started until the end. Hebrews continues to point out that we can’t rely on some initial spiritual experience that would allow us to go on and live life any way we want to.
What if we could perform an autopsy on someone and determine their spiritual condition? The coroner makes a slit down the man’s chest, cracks the ribcage open, and removes the heart. When the spiritual detective comes for a briefing, the coroner takes the heart and hits it with a hammer. “Clang,” it goes. It’s a hard heart. The detective deduces that this man had stopped listening to God. The ears were intact; the man could hear the words, but there was no obedience. His vision was okay, but he would not see what God wanted to show him. He could walk but was unwilling to follow the path God set before him. His arms were strong and healthy, but he would not put his hands to the task God gave him. All symptoms lead back to the condition that had developed in the major organ, his firm determination to do what he wanted to do and ignore, even detest, what God wanted.
It could go a different way. The coroner pulls from a woman’s chest a heart that is soft and malleable. It’s obvious that she had allowed God to direct her life. She was open to hearing God, seeing what God laid before her, walking in God’s Spirit, and accepting life with open and willing hands.
Not everyone needs an autopsy to determine the cause of death. For many people, it’s obvious what’s killing them—spiritually speaking. They’re cold and indifferent to people around them, they freeze from the inside out. Or they are always angry, and they burn with antagonistic fever. Bitterness, despondency, selfishness, narcissism, lust, and domination choke the spiritual life from a person. Spiritual health is visible in people who have a positive outlook in spite of circumstances, whose power displays itself in focused energy toward the good of others, whether it’s happy encouragement or righteous indignation to right a wrong. The spiritually vital person is open to listen, willing to change for the better, soft and gentle toward the misguided or the unfortunate.
We spend so much time talking about physical health. What would we be if we spent just as much time talking about our spiritual health. Give yourself a spiritual check-up; do it every day. Today is the day to keep your heart tender toward God.
Don’t be Like Those Who Failed the Test Because of Unbelief (3:15–19)
Hebrews again quotes the Psalm 95 passage. Then three times the author asks a question about the identity of those spoken of in the quotation. Those who were rebellious were the Israelites who left Egypt with Moses. Who were those with whom God was angry? It was the Israelites who sinned against God, and their carcasses were left along the way. Who were those who would not enter God’s rest? They were the disobedient. The conclusion, then, is that the Israelites from ancient time did not arrive at their destination because they disobeyed God along the way. We in the present time as Christians are not any better than they, but we have a better guide than Moses in Christ. That’s the message of Hebrews.
I’ve been getting where I need to drive to lately thanks to map web sites. I can remember when I used to do pulpit supply in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Once I was having a terrible time with someone’s directions to their church. After a few wrong turns we discovered that the directions they had given us were turned around and we had to do the opposite of what was written. There were many times when I arrived at a church just in time or maybe even a little late.
Tony Campolo tells of such a time. He was driving around trying to find the church. He finally located the church and, since he was late, walked to the platform while the congregation was singing the first hymn. He soon discovered that it was not the right church and had to excuse himself. I may get lost along the way and I might be late, but I’ve always gotten to the right church.
Not everyone gets where they’re going. Highways are dotted by crosses marking the places where people failed to reach their destination. Church cemeteries don’t have as many corpses of past members as church rolls have lists of those who have died out along the way. We set up monuments to remember the one, but the others are lost to memory and perhaps simply lost.
w
We can be sure of arriving at our destination, if each of us is heart-conscious toward God, if we encourage each other to stay faithful, and we remember what happens to those who fail through unbelief.
Suann and I don’t go shopping together any more. It probably has saved our marriage; at least it saved our sanity. Shopping for me is like a quest or a hunt; for Suann the pleasure of shopping is the journey. We would go to a store for the purpose of buying something we needed. I figure out how long it will take us to walk to the right section of the store, pick up the merchandise, find a cashier, pay, and then exit. As soon as we enter the store, Suann is pulled away to look at something totally unrelated to what we are doing. If our walk through a store could be plotted, it would look like one of those Family Circus cartoons. It’s a wonder we actually end our journey at the exit. We could end up lost somewhere in the store and have to set up camp in the sporting goods section. We would be the WalMart couple, roaming the store at night looking at pretty colors, feeling fabrics, and smelling candles, perfume and potpourri.
The spiritual journey is in itself exciting. It is filled with satisfying experiences; it is intellectually stimulating. But it is not just about the journey. It is about not being diverted from the ultimate goal. We want to reach that destination together: no stragglers, no one left behind. We’re on our way together with Christ as our companion on the journey.
Rest Area Ahead (4:1–10)
Humans, like all animals, need rest, a cessation of activity, an undisturbed and secure time of quiet and solitude. One of the nicest things that transportation departments have done is create rest areas. Many rest areas are like little parks. They often have picnic areas with shade trees and sometimes have scenic views. I must admit, most of the time for me the beauty of a rest area is that it gives another kind of relief. There have been only a few times when we have planned a stop along the way and have had a picnic meal prepared to enjoy a rest area.
One of my favorite dumb jokes is about rest areas. I have no idea where I heard it, so I’m telling it in my own way. This guy was traveling from Kentucky to Indianapolis. When it began to grow late, people began to worry what could have delayed him. He finally arrived and someone asked him, “What happened? How come it took you so long to get here? Did you have car problems or was there a traffic jam?”
“No, sir,” he began to explain, “It was my first time driving on the freeway. I saw a sign that said ‘Clean Restrooms.’ It took a bit a doin’ but I cleaned five before I left the freeway.”
When taking a trip, people are on the lookout for rest areas. Many times a sign for a rest area will say how much further it is to the next rest area. The ultimate rest area is, of course, when we finally reach our destination. We reach the comfort and security of home.
Hebrews is making a connection between the rest that the Israelites were to have at the end of their escape from Egypt to the Promised Land and the heavenly rest available for the people of God at the end of their escape from this world. Because the generation of Israelites that left Egypt disobeyed through faithlessness, they were to die in the wilderness leaving their children to settle in the new land. Since the rest that was promised was not fulfilled, Hebrews argues that the promised rest is still available, as long as the present generation is faithful to God and doesn’t falter in the midst of persecution.
