Live Diligently in Faith

 

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:8-13 ESV).

 

The writer is not advocating that we live doubting, trembling, that somehow we have failed to live up to the expectations of God whether intentionally or not. Actually, it is safe to say that none of us have lived up to those expectations. The Apostle Paul said, “All men have sinned and missed the mark of the high calling of Christ” (Romans 3:23). It is not a matter of what we have or haven’t done. Jesus has done it all on our behalf. The question is not what we have done; the question is whether we trust Jesus and take Him at His word. That is how we practice diligence; it is by faith in Jesus.

 

The main point of the paragraph is the need for diligence. Today we use the word intentionality. In the last sentence of the paragraph, he says the same thing in different words: “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:11). In other words, Israel fell from the promised joy of God because of the disobedience of unbelief. And the same thing can happen to anyone. To keep it from happening — and to show that we are more than mere “professing” Christians — he says, “Be diligent to enter God’s rest” — God’s heaven. Be diligent! Pay close attention to what you’ve heard (Hebrews 2:1); don’t neglect your great salvation (Hebrews 2:3); consider Jesus (Hebrews 3:1); do not harden your hearts (Hebrews 3:8); take care against an unbelieving heart (Hebrews 3:12); exhort one another every day against the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:14); and fear the unbelief that will keep you from your promised rest (Hebrews 4:1).

 

Do you see the great lesson here? The Christian life is a life of day-by-day, hour-by-hour trust in the promises of God to help us and guide us and take care of us and forgive us and bring us into a future of holiness and joy that will satisfy our hearts infinitely more than if we forsake him and put our trust in ourselves or in the promises of this world. And that day-by-day, hour-by-hour trust in God’s promises is not automatic. It is the result of daily diligence and it’s the result of proper fear.