A L M A C I A S

LOSING THE REST THAT AWAITS US

As we study the book of Hebrews, we find so many lessons in reference to perseverance. In chapter 4 of this great book of the Bible, we find the writer exhorting us to fear lest we lose the promise God made to us of entering into His rest. In chapter 4, verses 1 through 3, we learn certain simple, but very important, principles of succeeding in the Christian race set before us. First of all, the writer says unto us, as well as to the people of the first century, how we need to fear. Fear can make us do things that sometimes we would never do under normal circumstances. There is some fear that is not necessary for Christians to have, and that is the fear that could keep us from being the kind of people that God would have us to be. It was fear that caused even Abraham, who is sometimes called the father of the faith, to ask his wife to lie for him. Abraham was afraid the Egyptians would kill him if they knew that Sarah was his wife. Of course, he was completely wrong about this, nevertheless he lied and caused Sarah his wife to lie also.

The fear the writer is making reference to here is a different kind of fear. This fear is good fear, fear that is very necessary for us to be faithful in our Christian lives. The fear of losing our salvation. There is nothing in this world that is worth losing our salvation. There is nothing in this world more precious than our salvation. Our salvation is so precious because of the tremendous price that was paid so that we could be saved. The Lord paid with His life to make salvation possible for all who would meet His conditions. The writer to the Hebrews makes reference to the people of God in Old Testament times who never made it to the promised land because they were not obedient to the Word of God. They got to hear the Word, but through lack of faith, did nothing with it. When they first heard it, they made all kinds of promises to keep it, but when the trials and the hardships came, they fell by the wayside.

What happened to the Israelites of old could happen to us also. If we expect to enter the rest that awaits all faithful Christians, we need to fear and obey all that we hear from the Word of God lest we also come short of what God has promised us. How faithful are we being to what we know to do?