Continuing our series on the warnings in Hebrews. The book of Hebrews presents us with five stern warnings. The first was 'Do not drift from God?s word'. The second is:
Do not depart from God
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.
Hebrews 3:12 (NIV)
Departing from God is not done over night. It is normally a consequence of drifting. How often have you heard someone ask the question: if I don?t pray and read my Bible for several days will I still be a Christian? Of course you would. But drifting could easily set in.
Our hearts are knit to God by the love he pours into us. The longer we stay away from his presence the colder our hearts grow towards him. It is times like these that people turn away from God. Unbelief sets in when we deny ourselves the faith that comes to us as we abide in his presence.
Departing from God is the inevitable destination of those who drift from God?s word.
Do not grow dull of God?s Word
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again.You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
Hebrews 5:11-13
People that turn away from God can come back again. But when we become dull of hearing God?s word we deny ourselves of the main ingredient that can restore our faith.
To become dull of the word means getting to the stage where you no longer have a healthy respect or regard for the things of God. You take the attitude of - I have heard all that before. You know what is being said but do not care to act on it.
This is normally a sign of lack of growth. When the excitement of hearing the Holy Spirit speak to your heart begins to wane, know you are growing dull of God?s Word. You need to dig deeper into the well of life.
This will involve doing what the Holy Spirit tells you to do, putting aside the weights and sin that hold you back and handling the word of truth yourself. A failure to do this will result in you growing dull to God?s Word.
Ultimately, growing dull of the Word is a consequence of refusing to heed the voice of the Holy Spirit over a prolonged time.
To be continued