Hebrews 2:1 “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”
In the margin of the KJV, the following expounds on the phrase “let them slip,” – “run out as leaking vessels.” Paul describes us, 2 Corinthians 4:7 “We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” We are earthen vessels with the treasure of the Indwelling Christ within.
Do I give “the more earnest heed” to the revealed word of God to me?…to the teachings of Jesus?…to the light/revelation I have received from the Holy Spirit of God? Where do I leak, as the scripture suggests? I need to heed the challenge of the word of God. It is vital for a healthy spiritual life. When I refuse to walk in the truths God has revealed to me, the light in my life becomes darkness, (John 12:35-36.)
To glorify God is the greatest call to a man’s life.
My calling is to glorify God with my life. Am I just a shallow version of what I am meant to be? The world has a saying: We are what we eat. This is also true in the spiritual. What am I feeding my spirit man on? Jesus said, Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Is my spirit man being built up with fresh manna? How does my spiritual diet look? What “tree” am I eating from? (Genesis 3) The world’s tree: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?…..or God’s tree: the Tree of Life?
We need the Holy Spirit to convict us of “eating from the wrong tree.” We have heard the phrase: “The good is the enemy of the best.” Do I want to settle for second best instead of the “much more” of God? Consider the following which came through Oswald Chambers: We do not debate over things that are obviously evil, but we do debate over what we, (not God), consider to be “good” for us. In our eyes we judge it as “good”, but it is not necessarily “God” for us. O.C. then throws out a profound challenge:
“BEWARE OF REFUSING TO GO TO THE FUNERAL OF YOUR OWN INDEPENDENCE!”
When I insist on having my own will, or choosing not to prefer good for others before myself, I am the “leaking vessel” scripture refers to. My independence, doing things my way instead of God’s, is my glory, producing a poison in my spiritual life and diet. In these situations my pride is revealed and I lose God’s peace and joy in my life, producing a feeling of desolation. 1 Peter 5:5 exhorts us, “…Be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble.” Do I want God to resist me? Heaven forbid! Our loving Heavenly Father has placed the vital key in the above scripture. Along with the warning, He also reveals the way out of the mess we have made for ourselves: humbling! Bow, repent, take the blame and allow the “finished work” of our beloved Jesus to cleanse and change us. Humility is key, self righteousness has to be buried at the foot of the Cross. Beauty for ashes, as He pours His grace and forgiveness into our hearts.
In 2 Corinthians 6:1 Paul beseeches, “…do not receive the grace of God in vain.” God lavishes His grace upon us, His undeserved favour. We wallow in it, swim in it, enjoying the favour of God. But we must also remember to heed the above scripture. Do I receive grace by the bucket load, yet only minister it in teaspoons to others? THE GRACE OF GOD IS FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. Through Calvary I have received pardon from an offended God, (offended through my sin.) Do I minister grace to those who offend me? Or do I turn away in my pride?….and cause God to resist me again.
If I take the credit to myself for the grace of God in my life, or refuse to minister His grace to others, God will withhold His grace to me. The heartbeat of God for this church age is to minister His grace to one another, and always has been. Let us die to the right to ourselves and release the transforming, enabling power of the Living Christ from within us. Christ in me…the hope of glory – God’s glory!
Ponder the following: “A man of words and not of deeds, is like a garden full of weeds!” Am I prepared to welcome the Divine Gardener to weed my garden?
