2nd March: In Need of Another
2.3.18
Hebrews 3:7-19 (Morning Prayer)
In yesterday’s meditation, the passage from Jeremiah reminds us of the deceptiveness of the human heart (Jer 17:9). Here, the writer of Hebrews speaks about the deceitfulness of sin (Heb 3:13) and how coupled with an evil and unbelieving heart (Heb 3:12), can lead us to fall away from a living God.
The process is not sudden and the text here, as used elsewhere in the bible refers to a “hardening” process. You may have heard Casting Crowns’s 2007 favourite, Slow Fade, which goes this way:
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white are turned to gray
And thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade
Indeed, people never crumble in a day. Bit by bit, the deceitfulness our sinful hearts can lead us further and further from a living God.
This is why Heb 3:13 says that we need to “exhort one another every day.” We need to hear from another Christian, not just once a week but daily! The word exhort is a strong word, akin to strongly encourage or pressuring a person to do something. The same writer later will use another strong term, how we need to “stir up” one another to love and good works (Heb 10:24).
We need one another. And we need one another constantly.
This is what the Word is saying. This also bears out in real life. We need the Lord, of course. We need to do our personal devotion daily, of course. But on our own, we can be easily deceived. I can tell you there is nothing that can be more frightening than the Christian who lives without any accountability. One clear evidence of this self-deception is being closed up to others even though they may be socialising. But deep inside they are emotional clams - not sharing what is really going on in their hearts or lives. Sadly, they have no real spiritual friends.
The process is not sudden and the text here, as used elsewhere in the bible refers to a “hardening” process. You may have heard Casting Crowns’s 2007 favourite, Slow Fade, which goes this way:
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white are turned to gray
And thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade
Indeed, people never crumble in a day. Bit by bit, the deceitfulness our sinful hearts can lead us further and further from a living God.
This is why Heb 3:13 says that we need to “exhort one another every day.” We need to hear from another Christian, not just once a week but daily! The word exhort is a strong word, akin to strongly encourage or pressuring a person to do something. The same writer later will use another strong term, how we need to “stir up” one another to love and good works (Heb 10:24).
We need one another. And we need one another constantly.
This is what the Word is saying. This also bears out in real life. We need the Lord, of course. We need to do our personal devotion daily, of course. But on our own, we can be easily deceived. I can tell you there is nothing that can be more frightening than the Christian who lives without any accountability. One clear evidence of this self-deception is being closed up to others even though they may be socialising. But deep inside they are emotional clams - not sharing what is really going on in their hearts or lives. Sadly, they have no real spiritual friends.
We need to open our lives to another. We need companions for the journey of life. Some of us have good Fellowship or Bible Study groups where we have found spiritual friends. If we are serious about following Christ and spiritual growth, this is necessary. Or else, we are just self-deluded, setting our own rules and imagining that God is sanctioning our way of life and values.
On our own, we can be easily “scammed”. I once talked with someone who was obviously being scammed. He was giving thousands of dollars on a regular basis to someone overseas who claimed to have prophecy and spiritual insights. This is a clear case in point where he can pray on his own as much as he wants and yet remain deceived. I had a very hard time trying to convince him of the truth for he was trapped in his own bubble of reality.
None of us believe that we can be scammed. That is just another word for being deceived. The Ancient Scammer has been around. He scammed Adam and Eve and many others ever since.
On our own, we can be easily “scammed”. I once talked with someone who was obviously being scammed. He was giving thousands of dollars on a regular basis to someone overseas who claimed to have prophecy and spiritual insights. This is a clear case in point where he can pray on his own as much as he wants and yet remain deceived. I had a very hard time trying to convince him of the truth for he was trapped in his own bubble of reality.
None of us believe that we can be scammed. That is just another word for being deceived. The Ancient Scammer has been around. He scammed Adam and Eve and many others ever since.
Be wary of him. Be wary of our own hearts.
Start reaching out and open your life to another believer.
Start reaching out and open your life to another believer.
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