Based on Hebrews 3:7 – 4:2 (New King James Version)
“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ’ Beware, 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 ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’ For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.”
There is only one thing that matters in this life, and that is, whether we really believe in the Lord or not. There is nothing more important because everything stems from what we believe in. It is the root for everything in our lives. This is what determines what we do here, and if we will enter the kingdom of God. There is much confusion over this because quite simply, in one way or another, most people do not live out a true faith. I’m afraid to say that within our churches, and in the ministry, and even within Bible schools and seminaries, there is hardly any of the faith that the Bible teaches, of the faith that makes a person come to obtain the eternal life and reward that God desires to give. There are things that sound like the truth, and that seem to guide towards the way to life, but they are not God’s pure and holy truth. There are many illusions, vanities, likenesses, but in most places, there is no acceptance of God’s truth. Most people, even those that believe that are educated and knowledgeable in the things of God suffer from unbelief, and therefore, will not have eternal life.
But many might say, “How can that be?” Many say they believe, and they confess to have faith, but there are always doubts, and those doubts can be seen in the way they live their lives. What was Israel’s problem in the desert? And we should take this into consideration, especially those of us that say that we are a part of God’s people because Israel was God’s people. We need to remember that faith in Christ adds the gentiles (those that are not of Israel) to the people of Israel, so we need to pay attention to this issue because it matters and affects us directly. Most of the people of Israel always doubted God depending on the circumstances, and if God was pleasing them or not. If things were going the way they wanted, then they glorified God. But if things changed a bit, God was no good for them anymore. And their hearts were always wondering between God and the idols they left behind in Egypt, like the golden calf they made for themselves when they thought that Moses had died. There was no stability in their lives. And this made God grow weary, and God made them wander in the desert for 40 years, a journey that should have supposedly taken only 11 days according to some scholars. Their hardness of heart was such that God made them go round and round until the generation that left Egypt perished, except for Joshua and Caleb.
This same evil continues today, and probably stronger than ever before. There is much doubt, much double mindedness, much unbelief, and God is sought after for convenience rather than because of faith. And even worse, the majority treat God like a servant and they treat themselves as god and lord. That is the grave problem that exists, that God is treated in the manner that they see how it suits them. And of course, the devil takes advantage of this to tempt people, so they don’t believe in God, to plant doubt, to make God seem like He is not worth anything, and that the only thing that matters is that their wishes come true and to live life however they want. This is the temptation that the devil will always try to employ, and this will happen until the day you take your last breath, to leave God, to doubt Him, and to finally not treat Him as Lord. But the Word says this: “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” James 1:12-17. The devil temps through our own lust and appeals to our evil desires. He doesn’t need to look for anything beyond that. The evil is within us and free will gives us the power to either choose to give into the evil that is within us, or to reason and adopt a true faith in the Lord based on everything that God is and does for us. Ultimately, faith is completely based on the reasoning of man. A person can spiritualize things all they want, but in the end, God made us with reason, and this reason is what interprets the Truth of God and the devil’s lie, and decides what to give in to. This is why there is a judgment. But the Word says: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:7-8. Everything that these verses say are completely based on decision. If a person has any kind of reasoning, and they believe that God is God, they would treat Him as such, and they would do as He says because reason would justify looking for their own good, to be on the side of the most powerful Being in the universe. It is illogical and foolishness to do something else.
And this takes us to our final point. What is faith finally about? It’s about loving God. If we see, understand, and accept God for Who He is and everything He has done and does day after day, but the most important, the eternal life that He gives freely through His Son Jesus Christ, this “should” take us to love God. Love is the only logical manner to correspond to God’s love. Love should produce love, not hatred, or doubt, or selfishness, or obstinance. This is the end that God looks for: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:4-5. If a person really believes in God, they would learn how to love Him, and would ultimately do as He commands, no matter what, because they would understand who He is and what is truly of value: eternity. If God is not loved, and He is not sought after or followed, quite simply, there is no faith, but rather unbelief. So then, do you love the Lord so you can have eternal life, or are you still lost in unbelief, looking to fulfill your own will? Lord bless! John