Hebrews 2:1-3 - So we must listen very carefully to the
truths we have heard, or we may drift away from them. For
since the messages from angels have always proved true and people have always
been punished for disobeying them, what makes us
think that we can escape if we are indifferent to this great salvation
announced by the Lord Jesus himself and passed on to us by those who heard him
speak?
This writer was trying to help the Jews who still did not
accept the Christ as the Messiah see the truth of all that God had given them
to prove Jesus was his son. They were indifferent…uncaring…apathetic
even… to the truths that all the apostles were using to help them understand
the gift of salvation. They were not listening to them with their whole beings.
Listening involves more than just our ears. It involves the
heart….the mind….the ears…. and the other 4 senses that God made to connect our
whole body to the spirit he placed inside us. True listening adds the step of
obedience…. the proof that we have heard and understand what God has said to
us.
Many people still reject the truth of God’s plan for our
salvation. Perhaps they are not listening
either….for how could one reject the best free present ever recorded in the
history of the world. The real lesson for us in this is that we cannot become indifferent
to their choice ….and work even harder to help them see the truth that God
revealed to us.
One other point I noticed in verse 10. It says that Jesus became
our perfect leader because of his suffering. That proves that everything we
consider to be bad or suffering in this life is a part of God’s plan to make us
leaders to others. Perhaps the reason he allowed our pain is to better
understand …listen a little better to how to help someone who doesn’t believe…become
a little less indifferent to the stranger we meet that does not know his
love.
I would venture one more bold statement….or let me state it
as a question that you may feel free to answer if you want to. Could indifference
be the number one sin of Christians? Could our ability to listen better to
Christ be the cure to help cure us of this sin? I know that I take for granted
my safety way too much in my small town. My suffering is limited to the
physical or mental pain of loss ….illness…. or financial pressure. Perhaps God is sending us messages through
the floods in South Carolina….or the shootings of Oregon. Is he calling us to
let go of the indifference we have created in our hearts because the majority
of wars…and persecution of Christians is not here in our own country?
I admit that I am guilty.
I feel for the many news stories I hear….I pray for them…but I also
thank God that the things they suffer are not in my hometown. I am not 100%
sure that I could be as strong as them if God were to allow the same in my
front yard….or the schools where I sub. I needed the reminder to keep
listening...and not become indifferent to the problems around me.
Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to open my
whole being to your voice. Forgive me
for the apathy that tries to root itself in my being. Help me to listen with my ears and heart….my
eyes and my hands…help me taste and see that you are good and take refuge in
you alone. Amen.
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