Hebrews 4:14 – “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.”
Because of what Jesus did there is something we must do: hold fast our confession. We must use our strength to seize and retain our confession. Don’t let go of it! Why is this so important?
The verses leading up to our devotion tell of Israel’s failed attempt to enter the rest God had prepared for them. Verse 1 of chapter 4 issues the warning: “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.” Why did Israel miss the boat? Why did they not enter what God had promised them? There are two reasons given in today’s reading.
Verse 2 says, “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.” The word of God, as powerful as it is, cannot benefit us if we do not combine what we hear with faith. Faith is the activator that ignites the word of God and causes it to become effective. I am always amazed at Matthew 13:58 which declares that Jesus could not do many miracles in Nazareth because of the unbelief of the people.
The second reason Israel missed God’s promise is found in verse 6: “Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience.” Disobedience smothers progress. Disobedience hinders God’s promises. We are partners with God. We must do our part to obey His word if we are going to see Him move.
Faith and obedience are two key ingredients we need operating in our lives if we are going to see the move of God. Hold tight and don’t let go! You will see God move in your life in incredible ways.