I Have Hidden My Shameful Ways! Really? - Hebrews 4:11-13

"Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."
Hebrews 4:11-13

How big is your God? The greatest joy in this life is to know the true God, yet many times we are guilty of creating a false image of God based on our own biases and reason. For instance, many try to reason an infinite being who does not think like us. We create a God that we can reason in our mind instead of accepting His revelation of Himself through the Scriptures. It is through the Scriptures that we primarily know God, though He has revealed Himself through His handy work and through the person of Jesus Christ. Often times we feel the temptation to lower who God is, so that we can comprehend Him and quite honestly stomach some of the things He has done and will continue to do. I guess I start with the premise that an incomprehensible God cannot be comprehended, and therefore I am bound to embrace His revelation of Himself through the Scriptures.

Here in this passage of Hebrews, we find the author encouraging the people to make every effort to enter that rest by not following the example of disobedience from the people Moses led out of Egypt. Remember their disobedience was a result of their unbelief. They never internalized their faith in the God who rescued them. Their actions made the heart visible. The author is not promoting a works based salvation, but rather imploring the people to believe or have genuine faith. It is true that this genuine faith will produce obedience, but the issue is faith not works.

Then the author goes on to talk about the Word of God. He tells us that the Word of God is sharper than any two edged sword. It is a sword that can divide the soul from the spirit. It can cut a man up on the inside. A regular sword can kill the body, but the Word of God does it's work in the internal realm... the soul and spirit. It can judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. The point is that God is concerned about who we are internally! Outward obedience can mask a heart that is distant from the living God and dark, but the heart is what matters. It is in the heart that we hide from people. We are afraid to reveal too much about ourselves because we are afraid that they may discover too much of what we have kept hidden. We think we are fooling people and hiding our true nature, but take note of what the author continues to say.

"Nothing in all of creation is hidden from God's sight." Wow! That includes the thoughts and attitudes of the heart! They are laid bare before God. We maybe fooling other people, but it is an open book to God. Why is it that we give thought to what people think about us, and therefore hide things from them. Probably shame, and rightfully so, but what about God. Do we give any thought to the fact that our actions in secret or, better yet, the thoughts of our heart are laid bare before God. He knows our motives, He knows our darkness, and He knows our true desires. I will venture to say that we will hide shameful things from people and ignore the eyes of God because of our unbelief. We fear people more than God because of unbelief.

I know that it is hard to believe in a God that you cannot see, touch, smell, or hear. He is not very tangible to our physical senses, yet He is very tangible to our soul. I know that God is real because of how He interacts with me on the inside. I have no doubt of His existence, yet I have never seen God, touched the scars of His hands or the wound in His side, smelled Him, or heard an audible voice from Him. He speaks to my soul when I can quite my heart long enough to hear. This life we have been called to is a life of faith! If God was so physically tangible then faith loses it's power. Jesus, after letting Thomas touch His wounds and exclaim that he believes, said to him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." It is true that we have not had the privilege to touch His wounds or see His resurrected body but He is real none the less. In the words of Jesus, "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." That is me! Is that you? May the reality of your faith motivate you toward "whole self" obedience.

On another note, I decided to blog because of a prompting from God to share my journey through the Scriptures in a way that will challenge people to think and encourage them in their faith. I really would love to know what is helpful to you or any suggestions that you may have to make this blog more effective. For example, are the posts too long? Are the post too frequent or not frequent enough? Are there places I could post the site to that you know of? Just leave a comment or a suggestion.

Comments

David said…
The blog is fun, I have been writing in a journal my whole life and it is a blessing from God to not be alone anymore in that venture. Let our honesty rule the blog while keeping an Image beautiful. "In the begining was the word" says, Yeshua - (John). Transparency is important, and pouring out your heart will make one write with emotion; obviously, being seen in the Word.
October 12, 2011 at 12:56 PM
David said…
Vs 11 - 13

Observations

Eph. 4:3; 2Tim 2:15; 2 Pet. 1:10; 3:14 Let us be {therefore} be diligent is the same Greek word.
Webster Dictionary of diligent is characterized by earnest, steady, energetic effort, painstaking. Adj.
Strongs Concordance
σπουδάζω
spoudazō
spoo-dad'-zo
From G4710; to use speed, that is, to make effort, be prompt or earnest:—do (give)
diligence, be diligent (forward), Endeavour, labor, study.
Vines expresses diligent as 2 nouns, 2 verbs, 2 adjectives, and 5 adverbs.
KJV states 4:11 ‘let us labour’ a British variation of labor.
Therefore, as long as the promise of entering his rest remains valid, let us be afraid lest someone among you fails to reach it. ISV
Diligent labor is not in the International Standard Version
ISV clearly challenges the readers on a promise validating the word’s authenticity.

Interpretive Questions

1. Our crumb from the rich man is no substantial meal unless it is from God and consider the royal King who has had the last word yet wasn’t first - has his sword brought them doubt? In other words, does the author rely on the promise of Abraham when its possible Melchezedek was inserted into the Pentateuch or would he challenge the reader to remember the age of Shem? The word is written down and that is what they had to work diligently on while creating a social structure acceptable to a Jewish nation; however, the word He has spoken? Yes or No.

2. Am I a fundamentalist?
October 12, 2011 at 5:36 PM
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