Hebrews 2:1-4 (Relate)

"We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great 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 gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will."
Hebrews 2:1-4

Whose words hold highest place in your life? Whose words do you rely on to form the foundation of what you believe which affects how you live? As the author of Hebrews forms the foundation of his argument, he is starting in the most logical place... source of truth. The message spoken by the Son, is greater than the message spoken by the angels. The prophesies tell us this, God testified to it by signs and wonders, and the nature of the messenger makes it obvious that we should listen to Jesus! He fulfilled the Old Covenant and ushered in the New. He holds a position of authority right now at the right hand of God! Oh, and He created all things, is heir of all things, and sustains all things. LISTEN TO HIM! His message is true and holds the power of life and death!

So the author challenges the people to "pay more careful attention" to what they have heard. Because most couldn't read, they were dependent on teachers and what they had heard. The words that people spoke were a powerful influence, so you must pay careful attention to who you are going to believe. In their case, they had to decide whether they were going to believe "the message spoken by angels" (Law) or the message spoken by the Son (New Covenant).

They same is true in our case. It's likely, if your reading this blog, you are not Jewish and you probably don't struggle with desiring to return to the Old Covenant, but the principle is the same... Whose words form the foundation of what you believe about reality? Some possible sources may be science, a particular philosopher, mom and dad, your church, yourself, Oprah, music, or any number of things. Where do the words of Jesus fit into all of this? What place do His words hold? It all comes down to our source of truth!

Years ago I was having a conversation with an older gentleman whom I love, and he asked me what I thought about interracial marriage. I proceeded to tell him that I had no problem with it because the Scriptures didn't address it. I told him that the primary principle was that a believer marry another believer, race had nothing to do with it. He responded to me like this... "Well, they way I look at it, God created the red bird and the blue bird, and you don't see them getting together." Do you see how easy it is for us to form an opinion about what we believe by something other than the Scriptures... even if it "involves God"? We must pay attention to what we hear or we will go down a path of believing what is not true!

I will issue a challenge to you as the writer of Hebrews does to his Jewish audience. Pay attention to what you are hearing or reading about life! Allow God's Word to be the source that forms the foundation for real life! Ultimately, we all want reality! Reality is found in the author of life, and HE HAS SPOKEN!

God, give us a hunger to know the truth of your words! May we allow Your truth to penetrate our hearts and minds as we learn from You what is ultimately real! Give us a discerning spirit to filter out what is false, whether it be from music, books, science, parents, and even our churches. May Your Word hold the highest place of influence in our lives!

Comments

Anonymous said…
I read over this passage many times while I was at Daytona and I have to say, what hit me the hardest was "...how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?" To think that we actually ignore the words of Jesus, or even worse, try to replace them with something else, is baffling. However, it really makes me appreciate God's unchanging mercy and patience with our stubbornness. Though we waver, his truth remains the same, and he continuously invites us back to that truth...and back to reality when we are willing to receive it. Praise God.
July 16, 2011 at 9:16 AM
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