SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 12
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. [Hebrews 12:15]
Several times so far the writer of Hebrews has talked about those who have turned away from God’s grace [Hebrews 6:4-8, 10:26-31], and appeals to Jesus followers to stay true to the Lord [Hebrews 10:35-39, Hebrews 12].
This seems to be the theme of the whole letter: don’t miss out on God’s grace, don’t allow doubt or bitterness or immorality or fear or persecution or anything to take your eyes off of Jesus.
The urgency of this appeal is the consequence: those who do turn away end up on the wrong side of God!
God is not a bully, God is not vindictive, but those who defy Him and live contrary to His good will place themselves against life itself, and therefore reap the consequences.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. [Matthew 23:37-38]
We need to appreciate both the sincerity and the seriousness of God’s appeal.
It’s like a mother warning her child about defying the stove and touching the heated element: her appeal is both sincere and serious, and the consequence of disobedience is painful.
Only magnify the intensity; this is not just a warning about touching a stove – we’re talking about the God of the Universe, Whose intensity makes the sun seem like a matchstick in comparison.
Our God is a consuming fire [Hebrews 12:29] and it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God [Hebrews 10:31].
God is not cruel, God is not volatile or unpredictable, but God is dangerous, not safe.
We cannot play around with God, we cannot treat Him casually or carelessly.
God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. [1 Timothy 6:15-16]
Words fail us… He is holy, He is awesome, He is unapproachable… but best of all, He is good!
God does not want us to suffer, He created us to enjoy His presence and power, to live by it in a healthy way.
That is why He sent Jesus, to show us the right way to live before God – with humility and love and confidence.
Jesus is the face of God that appears out of His unapproachable light, beckoning us to experience Him in the best way possible.
God is doing everything possible to get us to see this, what the writer calls God’s discipline.
Everything that happens is God’s way of calling us back to Him.
But we need to be willing, and we need to heed the warning against refusing God.
The implications of our decision re. God are HUGE!!!
PRAYER:
Lord, thank You for showing me that the immortal, unapproachable God can be approached through You, and that He is good, loving and generous! In humility and love, I offer myself to You, willing to be gathered like a chick under Your protective wings.