So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did.
Hebrews 3:7-9
Each and every day we get lots and lots of warnings. Some of them are really simple. The speed limit signs are a warning that you’ll get a ticket if you drive over the speed limit. The railroad crossing signs, lights, and gates are a warning that a train is coming.
One night we were all fast asleep when suddenly, the Civil Defense siren went off. This immediately woke me up to not only scheming alarm but to the howling wind. It was a warning that a tornado was in our neighborhood and that we should take cover.
Our cars have lots of warnings built right into them. They warn us when we’re running low on fuel and windshield wiper fluid. Now while both these warnings are about some liquid in the car, the fuel warning is a whole lot more important. There’s warnings about the engine temperature and air pressure in the tires.
But my favorite example of a car warning is the check engine light. You know what I mean but do you have any idea what that light is trying to tell us? My question is, check what? A typical V6 gas engine has somewhere between 1000 and 3000 parts. When the check engine light comes on, where do you start?
One of the funniest gags that went throughout the TV series, Big Bang Theory, is when Sheldon sees that Penny’s check engine light[1] is on. Sheldon about loses his mind while Penny just ignores it. You can hear the panic in Sheldon’s voice as he repeatedly says, “Penny, your check engine light is on.” I just love it when Penny says without a care in the world, “Oh yea. That came on about a month ago.”
It can be easy to ignore warnings. Since most warnings don’t grab us by the collar and shake the living stuffing out of us, we can just walk on by and calmly live out our lives. That is until the warning becomes something more serious. When the thing we’re warned about turns into something broken. Something that’s going to cost us lots of time and money to fix.
And that’s where the writer of this letter is taking his audience. He’s reminding the Hebrews of warnings that they’ve known for a long time. It’s a warning that many of them had memorized and knew it by heart.
The warning is that while they are currently living in and through really tough times and circumstances, that they need to trust God. They were already in the middle of persecution and they needed to turn towards God. They were currently turned away from God and the warning is that they needed to change right now.
If we’re honest for a minute, we completely get this. When life goes sidesways, and difficult times smack us upside our head, we’re looking for the same thing. We want God to come down with a shout and immediately crush our enemies. We want God to instantly fix whatever problem we find ourselves in.
Did you notice what the writer of this letter calls our expecting God to fix life like we want it. To repair our broken life according to our limited insight and wisdom? To immediately end whatever pain and suffering we’re going through? He calls it a hard heart.
Wow. I don’t know about you, but that really shocks me. It goes against so much of what people are thinking and teaching today. I can’t count the number of times that I’ve heard someone say that since we’re God’s children, we can ask for anything we want. As a matter of fact, we have the right to demand it.
Funny thing though, Jesus doesn’t act or pray like this at all. Think about it: Jesus is about to be betrayed and arrested. He knows that torture and crucifixion are coming like a freight train. He also knows that God will turn away from him on the cross as he takes our sin onto himself. And what does he pray?
“Father, if you are willing, please take away this cup of horror from me. But I want your will, not mine.”
Luke 22:42 TLB
That’s the secret! Yes, we pray and ask for exactly what we want to happen. We ask God to come close and take our pain away. To defeat our enemies. But with our eyes wide open and with a willing heart, we put the final decision into the hands of our great and loving Heavenly Father.
And as we pray like that, we trust God to do nothing but the best for his glory. So that his purposes and goals are fulfilled. We may experience lots of weeping throughout the night, but in Gods timing, joy always comes in the morning[2]. That’s not a warning, but the great and true promise of God. Since he makes the promise, we can bet everything that it’s absolutely going to come true.
Noodling Questions
Is it easier to give or receive warnings? Why?
What warnings did we ignore the last time life went sideways?
Should we ask God for a warning? Explain.
[2] Psalm 30:5
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