Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
Hebrews 4:11
I don’t know who came up with the idea that you had to get up really early to catch fish. Or how they figured it out. Maybe they had some kind of dream that kept them up at night. And since they couldn’t get back to sleep, they figured that they might as well do something. And since fishing came to mind, that’s what they did.
And somehow, this valuable piece of fishing information came to my dad. And boy did he believe it. He’d wake up the house so early that the birds were still asleep. Not a peep was to be heard as we loaded up the car with all the stuff that you needed to live while fishing.
But the preparations for fishing began long before the crack of dawn when he woke us up. He filled up the car and three World War II surplus five-gallon cans with gas. The bait had been bought long ago and was brought out of the freezer where it had been keeping company with the food we ate.
You see, when it came to fishing, you didn’t just walk out there and start fishing. Oh no. There were lots and lots of preparation. And when it was time to get up, everything had to be ready. Ready to fish. And what is fishing? Mostly it’s waiting. Sitting around. Being still.
This is what the writer is telling the Hebrews. They have to make every effort to get to the rest. Think about that for a minute. They were to work hard so they could rest. Doesn’t that sound odd?
Making every effort doesn’t mean just to try a little bit. Or to treat it like a hobby. No. They had to use all their strength and energy. All their talents and abilities. They were to try with all their might. They were to use all their experience and skill to not just do it, but to do it right.
For some of us, we think of faith as this thing that just sort of floats around like the feather[1] at the end of that great movie, Forest Gump. Faith just sort of happens. It comes from nowhere in particular and disappears just as fast.
Or we think of faith just like Archie Bunker. He explains faith to “The Meathead”[2] as “something that you believe that no one in his right mind would believe.” This means that everyone has the right to believe whatever they want, and no one can question them about it.
The writer is really urging the Hebrews to work hard at their belief. To purposefully and intently put all their effort into their faith. And why? Because ongoing faith is an action word that requires action on our part. And that faith action has a purpose that God wants to bring about in our lives/
Yes, faith does come from God. It’s a gift[3]. It comes from hearing God’s word[4]. But like any talent, it takes hard work overtime for it to develop. To mature. To become so much a part of us that we don’t even have to think about it.
Whenever we learn any skill, it starts with paying attention to what we’re doing. We have to think about what we’re doing. We have to make our bodies do what we want them to. And then, over time and with lots and lots of practice, we don’t have to think about it anymore. It becomes natural.
I clearly remember writing my first computer program. I wrote it out on paper before I started typing it for the computer. Now, what made this interesting is that I had not typed before in my life. I never had to turn in a typed paper at school. I didn’t take typing class.
First of all, it took a long, long, long time. There was a lot of hunting and pecking. Lots of yelling at my fingers as they hit the wrong key. Lots of blaming the keyboard for not knowing the right letter and numbers. Lots of corrections. Lots of retyping.
But now, a few years later, I hardly look at the keyboard. I don’t have to write things down ahead of time because my typing can keep up with my thoughts. Yes, I still make mistakes, but they are fewer and cause a whole lot less pain and frustration.
The Hebrews are being warned to keep their faith. Why? Because walking away from faith has one and only one result. Disobedience. Let me be clear. There’s no doubt about it. Make no bones about it. Disobedience comes from unbelief. Period.
It’s time for you and me to get up. To take faith in Jesus seriously. To keep the faith firmly in front of us. Because keeping him as the center of our lives is the result of faith in his death on the cross for all our sins. Instead of trying to pay for our sins, we need to let God’s payment be the center of everything. And we need to keep reminding ourselves of this truth. The truth that sets us free. The truth that changes everything.
Noodling Questions
How real and concrete is faith to you? Explain.
What steps can we take to increase our faith so that it changes us?
Why are we not serious when it comes to making faith in Jesus real?
[3] Ephesians 2:8,9
[4] Romans 10:17
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