"See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
For our God is a consuming fire."
Hebrews 12:25-29
This is interesting because it shows at least partially what God is helping us become... eternal beings, that cannot be shaken, destroyed, or consumed in a fire. He wants us to be able to stand with him. Now, of course, right now we aren't even close to that. We're weakling mortals, and we are pretty messed up most of the time. But he's asking us to see beyond our current weaknesses, to act beyond them, and to have faith in him and in what we can become. Over time, working with God, no matter how weak we are now, we *can* become solid and unshakable, and it is God's chosen work to help us to become so.
We hear in other scriptures about the refiner's fire, and I think that is what the consuming fire is here... it consumes and basically obliterates anything that can't endure the heat, but the things that can are purified, as the fire removes everything else. God makes us able to endure, and we are purified by his fire.
Refusing God is like refusing treatment for a deadly disease. I mean, worse than that, but partially that. It's self-condemnation, giving up hope and choosing death. I think we can take these verses to heart, not in a way that causes us to think of God as frightening, although he can certainly seem that way, but in a way that helps us to understand that God is preparing us for an eternity where no corruption or imperfection will be able to survive.
We're seriously on our way to the kind of place where there aren't any white lies or criticisms or justifications... or any sin at all. And if we want that... if we want heaven... then we need to learn how to be that type of person, and live in that type of society. ... Not all at once. God will teach us and help us, and we will be able to accomplish it in time if we want to... but we have to want to, and be committed. God won't force us.
Today, let's choose to learn and to grow and to become people who cannot be shaken.
Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
For our God is a consuming fire."
Hebrews 12:25-29
This is interesting because it shows at least partially what God is helping us become... eternal beings, that cannot be shaken, destroyed, or consumed in a fire. He wants us to be able to stand with him. Now, of course, right now we aren't even close to that. We're weakling mortals, and we are pretty messed up most of the time. But he's asking us to see beyond our current weaknesses, to act beyond them, and to have faith in him and in what we can become. Over time, working with God, no matter how weak we are now, we *can* become solid and unshakable, and it is God's chosen work to help us to become so.
We hear in other scriptures about the refiner's fire, and I think that is what the consuming fire is here... it consumes and basically obliterates anything that can't endure the heat, but the things that can are purified, as the fire removes everything else. God makes us able to endure, and we are purified by his fire.
Refusing God is like refusing treatment for a deadly disease. I mean, worse than that, but partially that. It's self-condemnation, giving up hope and choosing death. I think we can take these verses to heart, not in a way that causes us to think of God as frightening, although he can certainly seem that way, but in a way that helps us to understand that God is preparing us for an eternity where no corruption or imperfection will be able to survive.
We're seriously on our way to the kind of place where there aren't any white lies or criticisms or justifications... or any sin at all. And if we want that... if we want heaven... then we need to learn how to be that type of person, and live in that type of society. ... Not all at once. God will teach us and help us, and we will be able to accomplish it in time if we want to... but we have to want to, and be committed. God won't force us.
Today, let's choose to learn and to grow and to become people who cannot be shaken.
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