At His Feet

Hebrews 2:1-4 (4/1/2020 - 4/2/2020)

4/1/2020: Hebrews 2:1-4
We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard so that we do not drift away. For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by the gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.

We have salvation. When we put our faith in Christ – confess him as our Lord and believe in our hearts that He died for us and God the Father raised him from the dead, we become born again. The writer warns us to hold tightly to the faith we had when we first believed in Christ.

He explains that the truth told to us is final – set permanently. It can't be changed or omitted in any way. Christ is God and the Son of God. He died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day, saving us from sin and death. God gave us many signs to prove this too. Everything the prophets in the old testament said regarding Christ - Christ fulfilled. From making the blind see and the lame walk and speaking in parables so that those who had ears could hear and seek. Even when Christ ascended into heaven, He gave us His Holy Spirit, who distributed gifts to us believers.

Hebrews tells us that back in the old day, if people ignored the message from God through angels, they were punished. The consequences were severe. An example of this would be from Zachariah, John the Baptist's dad who when the angel appeared and told him that Elizabeth would be with child and to name the boy John, Zachariah doubted. Because of that, the man was forbidden to speak until after the child's birth.

Now that's such a small thing compared to what will happen to those who don't believe God or Christ. The punishment for turning away Christ is hell.

No one wants to hear that but it doesn't change the fact; To the unbelievers, death and suffering awaits them in hell when they die. That's why God wants ALL mankind to believe in His Son Jesus Christ. So that way they won't go to hell and suffer for all eternity.

And for us believers. We're saved so when we die, we're going to heaven. The battle here for us is standing firm in the faith. Some people who were believers fall away and that's where I guess, I get confused about this. 

So we're back on Hebrews 2:1-4 where the writer warns us to not drift away from the truth of God. Do not listen to things that go against the truth of God. I think one of the ways a person can drift away from God or turn away when they are trying God, is pain. We all gone through some sort of pain, especially in the church of God. When I was little, I hated Christians. I didn't hate God but I sure did not like his family when I was in my teenaged years because of the pain his people put me through back then. Not only did I not ever fit in with the kids in the church when I was younger, some used me just to get to my sister (who was always the popular one), there's been two times I felt threatened by people in the church and had no one to protect me. Not only that but the church I went to as a child, they helped my mom cheat on my dad.

So talk about things to be angry about! After all of that, you bet I was sore with them. It drove my family and me away from God. I allowed my dad's grudge and my pain to guide me away from God. For my whole high school years I never prayed or tried to get to know God because I spent my time judging the church right back.

And it still wasn't easy when I went back to church to get to know God. In my new church, I felt abandoned by all the mentors I was getting passed onto. They didn't even make time to be there for my baptism and I was the only one who stood without a mentor on stage. However, this time was different. The pain just seemed to repeat itself but, God used it to grow me. I learned how to forgive like Christ does. I learned to let go (something my family was never knows for), and learned that God can take something broken and make such beautiful paintings out of it.

That pain is now something I'm grateful for because it grew my roots deeper in Christ. Sometimes, I think, maybe people start drifting is because they let their pain get the best of them. They allow their hearts to harden by life (and life is hard!) and because of that, they become bitter and bruised.

Holding tight to the truth of God is to remember His sacrifice but also his teachings too because what drives out bitterness and ignorance -> forgiveness and knowledge. How do we stay rooted in Christ and not let the world beat our faith out of us? How do we not fall for things that speak against the truth of God? Get knowledge and put it into practice.

Read the word. Hold it tightly and, like Isaiah said, eat it. Let it fill you and mold you and allow God to use whatever pain you have to bring out a beautiful garden in your heart. You don't have to live with fear dominating you mind and you're not alone even though you feel like you are. You are loved and God wants you.