As some of you may know, I am daily reading through Scripture in its order. Today’s devotion included Hebrews 3:12-14: “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But 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. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,”
We too often think of sin just as something that we do or don’t do. We think of caving into sin and doing something that we should not do. Or, we think that we sin by failing to do something that we should do. Our lives are ruled by legalism, a list of “do’s” and “don’ts”.
Although sin certainly does include a violation of those rules or commandments, this Scripture talks about a different kind of sin which is the sin of unbelief. Verse 13 speaks about “the deceitfulness” of unbelief and how we can be hardened by it.
The rest of the chapter speaks about what happened to Israel who fell into this sin of disbelief. Israel was forced to wander 40 years in the desert and die in the desert without being able to enter Canaan, the Promised Land, because of their sin of unbelief. “For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.” Hebrews 3:16-19.
We tend to dismiss Israel without learning their lesson. We think: “Here, God had performed all those miracles to deliver Israel from their bondage in Egypt, and yet Israel still did not trust God. Tsk! Tsk!”. But, how often do we also likewise sin by our unbelief! How deceitful this sin of unbelief is!
Yesterday, I see this sin of unbelief in myself in spite of how much God had done for me. Here, yesterday, God had so encouraged me by Professor Gritters’ sermon. Here, yesterday, God had so encouraged me by the Scripture that “All is ours”. Here, yesterday, God had so encouraged me by all the examples of tender mercies. Here, yesterday, God had so encouraged me by the email that I sent to you all. Here, yesterday, God so encouraged me by the Sunday evening worship service. And yet, the sin of disbelief so deceitfully snuck up behind me and whispered in my ears: “You are still coughing. God doesn’t care for you. The Sabbath is just about over. You did all the things you were supposed to do, and yet you are still coughing. Entertain yourself by TV and the Internet.”
And so I did. I tried to entertain myself by TV and the Internet.
But God, who is so gracious and merciful, whispered in my ears: “Read tomorrow’s devotion.” And so I did, I particularly focused on verse 14: “For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,” I thought: “Wow! This is a warning!!! I better remember God’s promises! I better believe and hold fast to God’s promises!”
And so, I read my email to you over again, time and time again. I focused on paragraph 7: “In summary, no matter what tough economic times we face, no matter what health problems we face even through the point of death, “All things are mine!” and “All things are yours!” God causes all these things to work together for our good. Many times, God draws closer to us to comfort us, or at least it feels that way during these tough times. Many times, God uses these tough times to make us appreciate little things more, like sleep and a good breath. Many times, God uses these tough times to build our faith which is more precious than gold.”
And then, I ignored my cough. I did not go back to the TV or Internet. I kept thinking about God’s promises. I was happy to find a new way of sleeping upright, and I went to sleep.
I don’t remember coughing last night from about 2:00 a.m. till 7:00 a.m. I slept well. I feel rested. This morning, as I read the devotion, I did not cough. Later, I coughed some but not as much. In summary, I am thankful for these tender mercies and for overall the big improvement.
But, I want to write again to build my faith and to build your faith. I read: “Encourage one another.”, and I think how true that is! All of us need to encourage each other every day, and as much as we can, we need to encourage each other multiple times each day.
But, we also need to resist the sin of unbelief. We need to “hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end”.
How do we hold fast our assurance? First, we recognize how serious the sin of unbelief is. Second, we focus on God and His promises. Third, we ignore anything that tempts us to not trust God. Fourth, we build up our faith by remembering what God has done for us. Fifth, we read God’s Word and pray. Sixth, we encourage each other. Seventh, we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Hebrews 12:2.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 