God Speaks
And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s messenger and High Priest. 2 For he was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses served faithfully when he was entrusted with God’s entire house.
3 But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself. 4 For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God.
5 Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. 6 But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.
7 That is why the Holy Spirit says,
“Today when you hear his voice,
8 don’t harden your hearts
as Israel did when they rebelled,
when they tested me in the wilderness.
9 There your ancestors tested and tried my patience,
even though they saw my miracles for forty years.
10 So I was angry with them, and I said,
‘Their hearts always turn away from me.
They refuse to do what I tell them.’
11 So in my anger I took an oath:
‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”
12 Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. 13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. 14 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. 15 Remember what it says:
“Today when you hear his voice,
don’t harden your hearts
as Israel did when they rebelled.”
16 And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn’t it the people Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness? 18 And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him? 19 So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: Hebrews chapter 3 begins by telling us that Jesus is better than Moses. It also offers a warning not to follow the example of the people Moses led out of Egypt. They were rebellious; therefore, God denied them the rest (sense of peace and security) in Himself that He had in store for them. That generation all died in the wilderness without entering the promised land. The lesson of Hebrews 3 is that we will not experience all that God has prepared for us unless we fix our thoughts on Jesus, trustingly listen to Him, and do whatever He says.
Prayer: Dear Father of my Lord Jesus, thank You for calling us to focus on Jesus. He is the one You sent and who serves as both our sacrifice for sin and our high priest. Thank You, Jesus, that You are even more faithful than Moses in carrying out all that God the Father has planned. For this You will receive even greater honor and glory. Help us to continue to hold fast to You in confidence. May we hear and heed Your voice and not rebel or let our hearts go astray. May we daily encourage and exhort one another to stay faithful and not be drawn away by unbelieving hearts. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will begin or continue a list of things and people that Jesus is better than.
- I will read the above list aloud in prayer and praise, alone or with others.
- I will think about and/or discuss with others the benefits of trusting and obeying Christ Jesus.
- I will think about and/or discuss with others the consequences of not trusting and obeying Him.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.