As I continue my year-long challenge of reading of the entire Bible, this morning I’m struck by a common theme: The repeating pattern of those who witness and experience God’s miraculous work to take Him for granted and fall away from Him. I’d like to think that I’m different, better than those stupid people…but I’ve walked with the Lord long enough, and fallen into many of the same traps, enough to admit the truth that I am not.
All throughout the history of God’s chosen people in the Old Testament, the Hebrews seemed to go through endless pendulum swings of rebellion, consequences, repentance, forgiveness, blessing, apathy, and back to rebellion. God’s stubborn love, and His dedication to His covenant promises, stands out like a beacon of hope throughout history…in spite of the peoples’ repeated inability to hold onto it. I’m so thankful for the forgiveness we have in Jesus, which over and over covers my inadequacies and rebellions….and gives me new opportunities to walk with Him.
His call to us to continue steadfastly in Him remains today:
“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said:
‘Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.’”
(Hebrews 3:12-15)
