Journal Entry ~ 12/30/18

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. - Hebrews 4:12

When you read the verses that come before this verse, you see that the author is instructing the readers not to fall into the same disobedience that the Israelites did - hearing the word of God and not acting on it. Verse 11 mentions entering God's rest - Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. - Hebrews 4:11. The rest they are referring to is God's Word. In essence, they are saying be diligent to hear the Word of God and take rest in it - to trust it and be satisfied in it, so that you don't start murmuring and complaining and want to forsake God like the Israelites did. 

That's the thought that connects to our verse - why should we stay true to God's Word?  Because it is living and active, and because it pierces our souls, discerning thoughts and intentions. The reality is we do start murmuring and complaining when we step back from God's Word. If we don't read it daily, and we skip out on church and fellowship in small group, we don't have anything piercing our soul and spirit - there is nothing pointing out the danger of our thoughts and intentions. It gets harder and harder to be reflective and see our actions, because there is nothing helping us discern. We end up in the wilderness, murmuring and complaining, and our hearts begin to fill with unbelief. We lose our eternal perspective, and our focus starts to shift inward to ourselves, to our wants and desires. 

Stay in the Word. Eternity is at stake. Reading all of Hebrews at once, we understand the great danger is unbelief. Stay in the Word and allow Him to continue to do the work on your heart, piercing your soul and spirit and discerning your thoughts and intentions. 


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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