Fill(et) Me With The Word of God

There’s a Stirring # 5                                                                                           3/12/12

Hebrews 4:12-13

            Have you ever gone to a scary movie at night, returned home, and not slept well? Did scenes of Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, the Mummy, or vampires, keep playing your mind over and over again?

            For me, the scariest movies were always the ones that seemed to be real-life possibilities. When I was about ten or eleven, I went to see a movie called “What's the matter with Helen.” It was a murder movie. It starred Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters. It was the type of movie that seemed like it was ripped straight out of the day's newspaper headlines. I had trouble sleeping for days after that.

            We are all afraid of something. We may not even realize it. Even in everyday life a lot of what we do is based upon fear.

            That's the way it was for these Christians in the book of Hebrews. This preacher from Hebrews is attempting to preach a sermon to them. He knows that, at one time, they were walking according to the values of the Lord. They were allowing the church to affirm them in their faith. Somewhere along the way, their friends who were not Christians, or their coworkers, or their bosses, or their civic clubs, or somebody they respected so much they feared going against them, started saying, “What is the matter with you? Why are you doing this?”

            Some began threatening these Christians; some of these Christians even lost their jobs. Some had their property taken away from them. But these Christians began living out of fear. And they quit doing what God had told them to do, such as ceasing to meet with the church.

            Incidentally, today, we see it illustrated much more in the fear of our friend’s having a negative opinion of us than of someone taking away our property. I remember we had a young convert in Argentina, who brought a friend to a college Bible study and fellowship night that Judy and I offered in our home.

            The friend, who was a partier, left saying, “What do you see in those people?” Afraid of losing her friend’s respect, our young convert began a slow fade to spiritual oblivion.

            Last week, we saw where God rescued the ancient Hebrews, who were down and out in Egypt. God came along and rescued them.

            As you listen to the story being retold in Hebrews, what you naturally think is that the people respond in loving kindness and seek to offer God great pleasure. But that is not the case.

            They get to the Jordan River they send spies out, the spies come back, and God's people become very afraid. People begin crying out, “Hey! There are giants out there.” They become upset with God. Then they complain to him, asking why in the world he is taking them out somewhere to get them killed. So instead of honoring the person who rescued them, they dishonor him. They complain, and, because of their fear, they refuse to follow his leadership.

            They distrust God, and they disobey. Have you ever heard the song “Trust and Obey?” They sing a new song, “Distrust and Disobey.”

            Last week, we saw this preacher tell the church, “Guys, learn from their mistakes. Some of you are headed in this very direction. Some of your fellow Christians have already abandoned God. You can still cross over the Jordan. It is not too late.”

            There was a generation that crossed to the other side of Jordan. They were the children of those Israelites. They made it, and the Preacher describes how they found rest. He then says, “You can find the rest too.” Furthermore, he says to them, “Make every effort to find that rest.” (Hebrews chapter 4:11)

            Years later, after the children of Israel had failed, Jesus spoke to their descendents, who were afraid of the religious leaders and said, “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. (Luke 24:4-5.) NIV 1984

       In essence Jesus says, “If you want to fear somebody, fear God.”

            That is a good synopsis for what God is saying in Hebrews. Respect God; respect what He says.

            That is his sermon, but he has an application, which leads us to Hebrews 4:12–13, 12 For the word of God is alive 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. 13 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.

            So in Hebrews 4:12–13, the Preacher tells them, “Let your reverence and awe of God determine how you live.” Have you ever heard somebody say, “I'm going to put the fear of God into you?” Well, this guy is going to try to do that. And he sees the word of God is the answer.

            Remember, this is a tired church in Hebrews. This guy is not looking to reinforce their lifestyles. He gets really tough with them. And he does so with the Word of God.

            One aside: he is not addressing broken people. Instead, these guys have not been humbled to the point they are ready to hear a Word from God--and act upon it. These are complacent Christians—people who were perhaps broken long ago but had since become self-satisfied.

            People can be like that today. One time a guy was preaching out of some of the books of the Old Testament, and a sister came up to him and said, “I don't think you should preach these.”

            The guy asked her, “Why?”

            She replied, “Because we already know all the stories.”

            The irony of this was that that lady was considered a major complainer in that church. Here she was hearing stories about the children of Israel complaining and failing-stories she needed to hear-yet, in her complacency, she had closed her heart to the word of God. Her attitude was the opposite of the one the Preacher is calling for in Hebrews 4.

            A practice I maintained in high school was to read different verses to prove things that I wanted to prove to my friends. Whenever I did read the Bible, my readings were exclusively focused on those points. The only time I read my Bible was to find out where my friends were wrong, or my friends’ churches were wrong. Basically, I was using the Bible as a club to hit other people. That's not what this preacher is talking about in Hebrews 4.

            The world says that the Bible is a dead letter. Notice this preacher says that the Bible is living, For the word of God is alive and active. The word is active–literally, it is energy. It is energetic.

            It is also a warning. He's sounding the alarm. He said to these Christians, “Listen, you have heard; now, obey.”

            The sword cuts both ways, Sharper than any double-edged sword. To Christians who are broken, who truly buy into Christ, it is a word of promise. To Christians who are slipping away, this message is a word of judgment—that's the other side of the sword.

            Now, keep in mind, when he speaks of the word of God, he is talking about the word of God that had been spoken. He is talking primarily about the Old Testament. This can apply to the New Testament, obviously, but, here, it is the Old Testament that he proclaims powerful.

            He said that before the word of God—Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. The word we translate “uncovered” can be transliterated to the word “gym.”

            Back in this time, these people had inherited a culture from the Greeks. The Greeks were into athletics. The Greeks would practice their athletics naked (only the men participated.) The arena for athletics was the place where these men would go, strip off their clothes, and practice.

             So the readers understood the Preacher saying was this—we go before the word of God… naked. We are totally vulnerable. Everything is uncovered--laid bare. He's talking about the Day of Judgment, and he's talking about today.

            The words “laid bare” are where we get the word “trachea.” This word is used to describe an animal that was laid upon an altar with his neck exposed. Then the throat was slit.

            That is the idea he has for us when we approach the word of God. We don't come to this book primarily to show where someone else is wrong. It is not my job to study the word of God everyday to discover where you have messed up. No, you and I are called to go before the word of God, expose our necks, understand we are disrobed before Him, and let the scriptures work on us.

            Is this Word-from this God-worthy of our respect?

            We are deluded, one commentator said, if we believe these Christians in Hebrews sat in their worship assembly, listening to this letter read, with great joy and pleasure. For many who received this message, it was very painful. It hurt.            

            What is the basic story of the Bible? We've got a problem. We have a sinful nature, and we cannot take care of ourselves. We have fallen, and we cannot get up. So God, over and over again, is portrayed as rescuing his people. Hence, there is a call to humility before God. Nothing to the cross I bring, simply to the cross I cling. The Bible is not a telegram from God saying, “Congratulations, you're doing great!”

            One time I went to my allergist for a checkup. My appointment did not last long, maybe five minutes. She asked how I was doing. I told her I was doing great. She checked me. She said I looked good. She concurred that everything was going well. Her admonition to me was to keep it up.

            Sometimes, I think I do the same when I set up an appointment with God’s word. I expect to open up the Bible and hear the scriptures say, “You’re doing good; keep it up”—sort of a spiritual version of a smiley face.

            The Preacher of Hebrews says, “No, God is going to be completely honest with you.” Isn't that what we need?

            Granted, this process can be painful; consequently, we too often avoid it. You know what often gets our nation’s presidents in trouble? They surround themselves with people who tell them what they want to hear. They isolate themselves from those who tell them things they do not want to hear.

            It is easy to do. I certainly do not want to hear the negative about me. Sometimes, it makes me feel bad, but I need it.

            Over 30 years ago, I had an uncle named Wally, (everybody needs an uncle Wally!), and he had to have open-heart surgery. Now that was in the day when it was a much more primitive operation--much more dangerous. It was an extremely painful process. Surgeons took a small saw and sawed right through the breastbone, went to work on his heart, and performed a number of dangerous maneuvers.

            They had to do this to my uncle Wally because his life was in danger; if they had done nothing, he would have died. But they did operate—they opened him up. Afterwards, he was weak and sore. However, that operation saved his life. He is still alive today.

            In a sense, that's what the preacher is telling us the Bible does with us. God comes to us and says, “You're going to die. I’m going to have to do some major surgery.” God gets a double-edged sword, he cuts, and he goes right for our hearts. We are exposed. We hurt. But if we are willing to submit ourselves to this operation, it will save our lives.

            You may been thinking, “Mark, what does this have to do with respecting God and holding him in awe?” Look again at the last part of v. 13: 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.

            There's something else in this passage that stands out to me. It is the phrase “the eyes of God.”

            When I was in college, we would make fun of a song (which I had actually never heard, but of which I was aware) called, “There’s an all Seeing Eye Watching You.”

            We would deride the culture of fear that we imagined it must have created. We smugly thought ourselves enlightened, and we figured that, in our own superiority, we had no one to fear. Before long, God took on the persona, to many of us, of “Big King Buddy.”

            I now wonder if the song came from this passage. I must confess to you, as I have been reading about the word of God, this book of Hebrews has been cutting on me. Hebrews has made me repent of some of the things I have preached. It has made me ashamed for some of the things I have said. I gather from this a sense of respect for the God who sees all that I do.

            Now, we can come into the Father’s presence with confidence, but it is because of the work of the Son—Jesus. (We will get to that in future weeks.) That only enhances our respect of the Father—and the Son.

            Some do not like this. It is not fun to preach about. It is not popular to talk about. It is, nevertheless, an element of our Christian faith.

            Fear was driving these Christians in the book of Hebrews. They were afraid of what their friends would think. Some were afraid of their bosses, “If I give my life completely to Jesus, my boss is going to fire me.” Some were thinking, “If I really serve Jesus with everything I have, I will not get a promotion.”

            Some guy in their youth group was thinking, “God sounds really good. But if I totally sell out to Jesus, that girl down the street that I like is going to think I'm weird.” So out of fear, he abandoned Jesus.

            There was somebody thinking, “If I do this, they are going to kick me out of the Shriners club.” Out of fear, he obeyed the Shriners.

            Someone else was thinking, “If we attend worship services every Sunday without fail, our neighbors, with whom we play bridge on Friday nights, will freeze us out and not let us play with them anymore.” So they did not go as much, to preserve that relationship. They did this out of fear.

            This preacher was saying to them, “Listen, if your collective fear drives you, here is who you need to fear, the living God.”

            So how do we apply this? We apply it by asking, “Who’s approval am I seeking? Whose words determine how I live?”

            Second, we eliminate all rivals to God.

            Third, we risk by exposing ourselves to the only words that matter—God’s.

            Don't worry about the word of the Rotary club, the boss’s word, the boyfriend’s word. Let’s concern ourselves with God’s Word.

            The Christians in Hebrews were not doing that, they were too busy listening to the word of somebody they respected, feared, or revered more than God.

            Several years ago, I made a decision to leave the valley of Texas and move to West Texas to preach and to go back to graduate school and Abilene Christian University. I told a meeting of a group of preachers my decision. I told them that I especially wanted to study under the feet of a specific professor, and named his name. When I did, one of the preachers there immediately began to laugh. He laughed hard.

            I asked him “Why are you laughing?”

            He told me that when he'd gone to ACU to study for his Master of Divinity, the only two C’s he received in the entire program were under this professor. He said, “There was a guy in my class who got an engineering degree at one of finest schools in our country. And then he decided, ‘I want to be a foreign missionary.’ He decided to go to ACU. He took this professor. At the midterm, with the 500-question test before him, he broke down weeping. He could not handle it. His dreams had gone down the tubes. That's who you're going to study under.”

            I must admit—my friend scared me. I immediately purchased the textbook for the first course I was to take and worked through it—four months before class started. I wanted to be as prepared as possible.

            We moved to West Texas and I began taking this professor’s classes with fear and trembling. By the grace of God, everything worked out well.

            I found the professor to be very gracious and helpful. It was a joy to study under him. I appreciated the relationship that developed between us. He would occasionally take me to lunch. I could talk and ask questions. I hold an enormous respect for him to this day.

            If he were to e-mail me this afternoon, I would possibly feel a little nervous in my stomach. Part of me would probably be thinking, “I hope he doesn't ask me to do something that I cannot deliver on. I would not want to let him down.” Such is the respect and appreciation I hold for him.

            This professor and I will never be big buddies; I think this is the way it is with our Heavenly Father, according to Hebrews. God and I will never have an adult-to-adult relationship. God and I will never be buddies. There will always be the thought in the back of my mind, “He is God. I am not. He is dangerous. I am not. He controls my destiny; I do not. I must always respect him.” However, also ever present will be this thought, “I love my Heavenly Father. Where would I be without him? My, how he has blessed me.”

            I will always hold a genuine love and appreciation for him. I want you to as well.

           

Thanks Dr. James Thompson for the insights from your class.

Actively Seeking Rest

 Hebrews 3: 7-4: 11

            Parenting can be hard, especially when the children are small. Here is some advice that might help.

            Mary’s three small children were stressing her out. She complained to her best friend, “My kids are driving me crazy! They are relentless! I can’t catch a break! I’m exhausted!”

            Mary’s loving friend advised her, “What you need is a playpen to separate the kids from yourself.”

            “Great idea!” Mary said.

            Mary went to the store and bought a playpen. A few days later, her friend called to ask how she was doing.

            “Fantastic! I can’t believe how relaxed I feel,” Mary answered. “I get in that pen with a good book, and the kids don’t bother me one bit.”

            All of us need rest.

            Here is another image courtesy of a sister-in-Christ. Have you noticed the plethora of businesses offering manicures and pedicures? Have you noticed the high volume of business they receive?

            I know of wealthy matrons who love nothing more to get their nails done. I know of junior high girls who are working minimum wage jobs, and still they set aside enough cash to drop by the salon. (I have even known a few men who have gone with their wives or kids to receive pedicures!)

            Why do so many go? Why do some ladies even make sacrifices to get their nails done?

            This sister told me that it is not simply a case of getting ones nails cut. There is often a lot of conversation. The “salonista” is asking questions and finding out about her client. There is the element of the human touch. A connection is taking place. These females are finding—community.

            All of us need community.

            Ironically, we live in a day and age when people can find association in more places of the world than any other time in history. Thanks to the Internet, someone India can read my words moments after I push a button on my computer. Before the day is out, we could be having a conversation.  

            Clearly, communication would be taking place. I could literally make dozens of links like this before the day is out, but it would not be a connection. The contact would be sterile—machine like. They alone could not nurture a soul.

            Today, we have computers and smart phones. We have Internet by Ethernet; we have Wi-Fi. Clearly, in this world today, we are wired; but we are not connected.

            The preacher in Hebrews addressed these needs 2000 years ago. He proclaimed—we need rest, and we need community.

            This passage is going to teach us that spiritual fatigue comes from disobedience, disobedience comes from distraction, distraction comes from unbelief, unbelief comes from misplaced faith, and misplaced faith leads to disconnection.

            The preacher’s words are strong:

7 That is why the Holy Spirit says,

   “Today when you hear his voice, 8 don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness.


9 There your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years. 10 So I was angry with them, and I said, ‘Their hearts always turn away from me. 
 They refuse to do what I tell them.’ 
 11 So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”

It is an interesting phrase that the Preacher uses: THAT IS WHY THE HOLY SPIRIT SAYS… He is summarizing a statement we looked at last week. I might paraphrase his previous words in this way, “Because Jesus is God, and because he became a human, suffered, was faithful, and endured, let’s pay careful attention so that we don’t drift away; let’s fix our thoughts on Jesus. After all, we are his community. Consequently, let us TODAY listen to his voice. Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

What rebellion? He is talking about the rebellion that occurred in the Wilderness centuries before. He specifically refers to Psalm 95. You have probably sung part of that Psalm before. It starts out, “Come let us sing with joy to the Lord...”

Pretty joyful, right? However, it ends, like this:

Today, if you hear his voice,  8 do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert, 
9 where your fathers tested and tried me, though they had seen what I did. 
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation; 
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.” 
11 So I declared on oath in my anger, 
“They shall never enter my rest” (Psalm 95:7b-11.) NIV 1984

            (Try adding that verse to the devotional song. Trust me, it does not have a good beat, and you cannot dance to it!)

            Playing off that story, the Preacher writes, Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God (Heb. 3:12.)

            What is the connection with rest and obedience? Have you ever seen a child really cranky? What's wrong? Often, it is a lack of rest.

            How many times has your child whined and cried, and you said, “What you need is a good nap.”

            To which your child, with great tears and emotion said, “I don’t need a nap!” Yet, a nap was precisely what was needed—rest. However, your child did not trust your leadership, so he complained. This was active rebellion.

            That happened in the wilderness with the children of Israel. They were not trusting in God. Instead, they rebelled. Their lives were in chaos. Consequently, they were finding no rest.

            Another manifestation of a lack of trust in children is passive aggressive rebellion. You tell your child to go to bed and go to sleep. Instead, he-depending on the era-played games on his iPod, played games on his game boy, played games on his game board, or played games with his rocks. When you attempted to wake him up in the morning, how did he arise? Rested and refreshed? No. Tired.

            I see a parallel here. Sometimes, we don’t like where God’s leadership has taken us in life, so we cram our lives with as many activities as possible. (Perhaps all of them are good activities.)

            These can occur in those times that God tells us to rest; we can’t because we have too many things going. We have not trusted his leadership; therefore, we enjoy no rest.

            The children of Israel were guilty of this as well. God invited them from time to time to rest and wait upon him. Instead, they crammed their lives full of activities. These ranged from building a golden calf to picking up food on the Sabbath. Whereupon they knew not peace; they knew not rest.

            A heart that seeks to rebel against God actively or passively is a heart that is evil, because it is a heart that distrusts God. It is an unbelieving heart, and it will turn away from a LIVING God. That heart will not know connection, community, or rest.

            13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.

14 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. 15 Remember what it says:

   “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts 
as Israel did when they rebelled” (Heb. 3:13-15.)

             How do you keep from getting a hardened heart? You look out for each other. This is where connection and community come into play.

            Remember that talking earlier about how we live in a world that is wired but not connected? Let me offer you another image of that.

            Recently, I was attending a basketball game. I saw a young couple sitting in the stands.

            Back in the day, when a couple sat in the stands together, they would often squeeze together, touching each other, and you could hear them whispering words like “lovey-dovey” and “honey-bunny.” It would make you sick!

            This couple was not doing that. They were sitting side by side, each with his or her own cell phone in hand, and they were calmly texting their friends. It was as if neither existed in the other’s world. They were wired, but they were not connected.

            This can happen in churches too. Congregations can morph into a confederation of individuals instead of a close community. We are not called to be “isolationists for Jesus.” Instead, our lives connect, and we encourage and admonish each other to faithfully follow Christ. We may not be wired, but we are connected.

            We are willing to speak the truth in love, like this: “16 And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn’t it the people Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness? 18 And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him? 19 So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.

            The Preacher is warning these Christians, “You’re not hearing! The Israelites hardened their hearts in revolt. You’re heading that way!”

            It is like he is giving them a verse-by-verse commentary. He is proclaiming, “The God who pronounced judgment on Israel also warns us. History tells us we too can fall away (so did Paul, see I Cor. 10:12.) They were not able to enter into the land of promise because of unbelief!”

            I know this is not a popular sermon he is preaching, but the Preacher sees it as vital. It may be confrontational to us, but we need to hear it.

            I have in my notes a question I heard someone ask years ago, “Do you find yourself ignoring the parts of the Bible you don’t like? Herod did that.”

            Ouch!

THE HISTORY LESSON

Now, we can still enter his rest…

1 God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God (Heb. 4:1-2.) NLT

The Christians of Hebrews received the same message as the Israelites: good news—rest was available. It is the same for us today. All we have to do is trust God’s leadership.

            You ever have kids that complained in the car?

            “Where are we going?”

            “To Mel’s Diner and then home.”

            “Mel’s Diner! Can’t we go to McDonalds!?”

            What is the problem? The problem is the kids don’t like the direction you are headed in. They think they know something better. They express this through complaining. (Of course, my kids would never do that!) The problem is—they do not trust your leadership.

            The problem with the children of Israel, and too often, with us, is that we do not like the direction God is headed.

            Okay, watch this, watch this, watch this: 6 So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. 7 So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted:

   “Today when you hear his voice, 
don’t harden your hearts.” NLT

            God is inviting his community to connect and encourage one another to access the rest that he offers—it is there for the taking. Remember this though:

There is a link between salvation and attitude,

and there is a link between salvation and behavior.

            Remember what this preacher has told us in earlier sections: hunger for God… fix your thoughts on Christ. Now he tells us that there is a correlation between our attitude, our behavior, and our salvation. Bad behavior does not condemn us; bad behavior betrays a disbelieving heart. A disbelieving heart condemns.

            A disbelieving heart was revealed in Hebrews by the Christians bailing out on Jesus. The Preacher is telling the Christians, “When you abandon the community of faith, you are demonstrating that your attitude is not right with God. Your attitude is showing you don’t believe what God says. You have put your trust in he words of people.”

            In Hebrews, the situation was rapidly turning into every man for himself! Because of the persecution, they were losing sight of what was important.

   The symptom was fear. The disease was abandoning the church.

   Now, let’s transition to today. What are the symptoms of hearts not trusting in God?

   For some of us, perhaps, the symptom is a jammed schedule. A life crammed with activity to conceal the emptiness we feel. This robs us of rest; this disconnects us from the community of faith.

Remember, even too many good things is a bad thing.

Have you heard about the python problems they are having in Florida? People have imported pythons from other countries for pets. Some of these pythons are escaping into the Everglades. In other cases, the owners are releasing them into the wild. Ultimately, these pythons are reproducing and multiplying exponentially. The problem is that they are feeding on the other wildlife at such a rapid pace, they are destroying the ecosystem.

I appreciate snakes. Pythons are good animals. A few pythons in the Everglades is fine, but too many of them kills off life.

It is the same in our daily lives. A few good things-is fine. Too many good things can kill off a Christian’s spiritual life, which in turn will harm the community of faith. Beware: a life jammed full of activities can ultimately lead to a hard heart.

REST FOR THE WEARY

            Are you tired? Are you stressed? You can find rest…because of heaven: 4:9 So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. 10 For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.

            John, in I John, teaches that God’s people can enjoy a quality of eternal life here on this earth. It is a taste of what is to come, but it is a good taste.

            When we view this world through heavenly glasses, we best deal with the stress, pain, or even persecution that comes with a fallen world. Victor Frankel, who wrote about the lessons he learned in surviving the Holocaust, wrote that belief in a strong future means surviving a tough present. That is what the Preacher is attempting to do in this letter—offer an imaginative vision of a strong future in God.

4:11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

            This is the Preacher’s invitation before he announces, “Let’s stand and sing.” Do you know there was a song from the brush arbor days of gospel meetings? It was based on this passage in Hebrews, especially 3:15 (don’t harden your hearts 
as Israel did when they rebelled)

            It was sung at night because that was when everybody from town could meet. The words go like this:

Oh, do not let the Word depart, And close thine eyes against the light;


Poor sinner, harden not your heart,
Be saved, oh, tonight.

(Refrain) Oh, why not tonight?
Oh, why not tonight?
Wilt thou be saved?
Then why not tonight?

            This Preacher is calling for his members to respond. How about us? Let’s say our hearts truly yearn for God, how can we enjoy this rest today?

            On an individual level, I would suggest selling out to Christ, and, out of that commitment, selling out to his Body—the Church. His body becomes our body. His community becomes our community. We love his church like he loves his church. We prioritize to meet with them and encourage them.

            Second, again on the individual level, I suggest we program into our schedule each day spiritual disciplines that will help us keep the “pythons” from crowding out our lives. Prayer, meditation, Bible reading, fasting, individual hymn singing, and Bible study are all ways we can regulate our spiritual ecosystem. These practices can help us keep our hearts soft before God.

            Third, is communal. Your congregation can do what ours does. We have programmed into our assembly ever week a pause button for rest.

            Do you know what a pause button is? On your DVR, or DVD player, or VCR you have a pause button. That allows you to put all of the action on pause.

            We do the same each week. We got it from the early church 2000 years ago. It is the Lord’s Supper.

            At our church, you can count on one time each week, at least for a few minutes, where you can enjoy God’s rest in the community of faith. We mediate on Jesus and the cross. We ponder his death and resurrection… and the implications these ever-living actions have on our lives today. This, if we allow it, can truly be the pause that refreshes.

            May you, this week, enjoy the rest of God.