July 12, 2023

Hebrews 12:14-29 (HCSB)
Warning against Rejecting God’s Grace
14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness—without it no one will see the Lord. 15 Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and by it, defiling many. 16 And make sure that there isn’t any immoral or irreverent person like Esau, who sold his birthright in exchange for one meal. 17 For you know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected because he didn’t find any opportunity for repentance, though he sought it with tears. 18 For you have not come to what could be touched, to a blazing fire, to darkness, gloom, and storm, 19 to the blast of a trumpet, and the sound of words. (Those who heard it begged that not another word be spoken to them, 20 for they could not bear what was commanded: And if even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned! 21 The appearance was so terrifying that Moses said, I am terrified and trembling. 22 Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels in festive gathering, 23 to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written[j] in heaven, to God who is the Judge of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect, 24 to Jesus (mediator of a new covenant), and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel. 25 Make sure that you do not reject the One who speaks. For if they did not escape when they rejected Him who warned them on earth, even less will we if we turn away from Him who warns us from heaven. 26 His voice shook the earth at that time, but now He has promised, Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also heaven. 27 This expression, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what is not shaken might remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us hold on to grace. By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe,   29 for our God is a consuming fire.

Michael Jackson
I don't run the world.  God does.  When I remember this, I'm in a position to follow God.  When I start trying to take credit for how things are, I sometimes get hard reminders in my life who is actually in charge.  God is.  He created it all. Including me.  And He alone has the first say and the final say on all things in His creation. But the best part of the story is that He seems to want me and you to be involved in His great unfolding story. In the Bible, He gives us warnings. And He gives us encouragements. They go hand in hand, because if He simply gave us warnings we would all be scared to death all the time and might not even go out of our houses to Kroger ... unless we had really good coupons. He also gives us encouragements to balance out the fear we might have from the warnings. And this helps us to understand that the warnings are there to remind us simply that if we follow Him and seek out His wisdom and ways, then we will be safe in His care as the sometimes terrible things about humanity unfold right before our eyes. The scriptures today drop a couple warnings on us about how we treat each other and such, but it also reminds us of who is in charge of all things, and that His control cannot be shaken or taken from Him. That means what He said is waiting for us in the end ... is waiting for us in the end. To be with Him. That’s a pretty good reason to be thankful and to want to follow Him. My opinion ... but it’s right.