Storybook FaithSample

As you read chapters 3 and 4 of our text, take some time to examine your heart. In these chapters, the Hebrews were being reminded of their history, and how in the past their ancestors failed to receive God’s promises because of their rebellious hearts. If you aren’t familiar with the story, here’s a recap. Back in Genesis, God promised the Israelites a homeland for the Hebrew people. 

God promised that this would be a land where they could prosper, establish roots, and be free from persecution as a people. After years of slavery and wandering through the desert, Moses finally lead them to the land of Canaan, the land God promised. However, when Moses sent men to scope out the land, they not only saw the promises of the land, they also saw challenges. They became afraid that the people that already inhabited the land would overtake them. 

Although the Lord had vowed to give that land to them, they didn’t have enough faith to believe that they could possess it. Because they refused to fight for their land, they were made to wander the desert for forty years. Eventually, the next generation of Hebrews were able to inhabit the land, but the men who hardened their hearts and persisted in their unbelief died in the desert. They never got to see what God had for them. Their story ended in the wilderness, because they were too afraid to believe in God’s promises. 

Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 are a warning not to make the same mistake. You see, just as the Israelites missed out on the promised land because they refused to believe God could give them the victory, the Hebrews at the time Hebrews was written were in danger of missing out on Salvation because of refusing to believe in Christ. And, in the same way, many of us could be in danger of not receiving God’s promises for our lives because we, too, have had hard and rebellious hearts.

Every one of us will have moments in life where we know what we must do in order to please God, but we are scared or unwilling to obey. It can be easier to harden our hearts and act as though we know better than God. Unfortunately, some of us will never know the blessings we are keeping ourselves from when we do this. So many people miss out on fulfilling their purpose because they were too afraid to step out in faith and begin what God put in their hearts to establish. Others will miss out on happy marriages because they hardened their hearts when God told them the relationship they were in was not the best for them.

Today, as you meditate on these scriptures, ask yourself:

Has God given me an order I’ve been unwilling to obey?

What part of my story could be in danger because of my unbelief?

Have I been hardening my heart instead of listening to what God is

trying to tell me?