“Do not
harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, as in the day of trial in the
wilderness, where your fathers tried Me
by testing Me, and saw My works
for forty years.” (v.8-9)
These
verses are part of an ongoing series of warnings directed at a group of people
who were wavering in their commitment to Christ. The author reminds the Hebrews that the
generation of Israelites that came out of Egypt under Moses, never reached God's
promised rest in Canaan, although it was waiting to be claimed. Their hardness of heart led them to test God, to
doubt His provision, and to rebel against His will for them. These Israelites
provoked God to anger, and He "declared on oath" (v.11) that their
bones would bleach in the desert until the entire generation died out (v.17)
We
also need to take this warning to heart. If we
ignore it, sin will harden our spirits as surely as cement hardens once it has
been poured. God honors faith, but unbelief invites His judgment. The
solution against a "hardened heart" is found in verse thirteen, “encourage one another day after day,
as long as it is still called
“Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
I pray
that God will lead you to someone who needs encouragement and to be built
up in Him. Merry
Christmas.
The Truth
“Therefore
encourage one another and build each other up.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:11)
