Hebrews 3:7-11 (NIVUK)
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:
‘Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, “Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.”
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
“They shall never enter my rest.”’
Today’s passage contains a quote from Ps. 95:7-11, remembering a time in the Exodus and encouraging the readers of Hebrews to learn from their mistakes, and not harden their hearts as they continued the journey towards God’s promised rest. For us, however, the opening word of the quote is vital, ‘today’. It is easy to read the Bible and turn it into an investigation of the lives and writing of Bible times. The ‘today’ brings an immediacy to it that speaks to us. Are we listening? Will we trust and obey?
Father, soften my heart so that I can listen and hear and respond.
Leave a Reply