It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
Hebrews 6:4-6
We’ve all experienced both the thrill and disappointment of getting so close. Getting close is never an accident. You just don’t happen to find yourself near something big. Something important. Something that could change your life.
To get close, it takes a lot of steps. Things have to happen in a certain order. In a certain way. There’s a road that we all have to walk down just to be put in the situation where we can get close.
Sometimes, it takes a lot of hard work over a long period of time just to get to the point of getting close. There can be lots of blood, sweat, and tears to put us in the place where we were close.
Eventually, we’re so close we can see all the little lines and details of it. We can almost taste it. We can smell it. We’re so close that we can hear it whispering to us. When we stretch out our arm and hand, our fingers just can’t touch it. It’s just beyond our reach.
There have been lots of good Super Bowls, and there have even been a couple of games that needed overtime because the game ended in a tie. But for my money, the Super Bowl that wins the so close award is the 1999 game between the St Louis Rams and the Tennessee Titans.
With no timeouts and six seconds left play, Donavan McNair completed a pass to Kevin Dyson at the two-yard line. Mike Jones immediately grabbed him and then began one of the all-time so close moments in sports history.
Dyson was so close and tried with all his might to roll and stretch into the endzone. At the same time, Mike did everything possible to stop Dyson from scoring. It didn’t take long for both of them to come down about 18 inches short of the goal line. The game was over, and the St Louis Rams became World Champions.
Even after all these years, the image of Kevin Dyson coming so close still sticks in my mind. My body stretches with Kevin as he’s trying to score at the end of the game. And, at the same time, I feel my hands roll into fists as Mike pulls him down to the ground with just inches to spare.
This is pretty much where some of the Hebrews are. They’re so close but they’ve never really made it. God showed his lovingkindness through Jesus and the cross. He paid for all their sins, once-and-for-all people. Once-and-for-all time. They’ve heard the true message and completely understood it. There’s nothing more for them to hear. No new information to be heard. Nothing more to learn.
They’ve got the whole truth, and yet, they haven’t received it. Many of the Hebrews were still holding onto the old ways of sacrificing for sin. They refuse to leave the past where they keep offering sacrifices for sin. Over and over, year after year, killing sheep, bulls, and goats to cover their sins.
I know what you’re thinking. If they tasted, then they must have received. Well, tasting isn’t the same as receiving. Remember the 12 spies that went into the Promised Land? They walked through the great land that God had given to them. They reported to everyone that it was a land flowing with milk and honey. They brought back pomegranates, figs, and a huge cluster of grapes that was so heavy that two of them carried between them[1].
But what happened next? Ten of the spies could only complain and focus on potential problems. They had walked through the land. They saw how fertile the soil was. They drank its water and ate it’s food. You see, they tasted but never entered in.
This is exactly where some of the Hebrews of the first century were. They didn’t need any more information. They didn’t need another sermon. They didn’t need to download one more app on their phone. They didn’t need to join one more Christian social media group. They had seen and tasted complete forgiveness in Jesus, but they refused to receive it. They were so close, but they never went in.
I bet we all know people like this. They heard and tasted the good news of Jesus. They understood that his death on the cross was all that was needed to forgive all sins and wipe away all unrighteousness[2]. They even saw other lives transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit[3] and the renewal of their mind[4].
They were so close. And yet, they just stayed right where they were. They refused to move. They wanted to stay in control, keeping God away. They were willing to ignore who God was and all he’d done just so they could stay right where they were. Safe. Secure. And totally lost. Depended on themselves instead of God. If that’s where you are, don’t stay so close. I beg you, drop everything and come to Jesus. Right now.
Noodling Questions
Describe the process and steps it took to get close to something big.
How is having the whole truth about God in Jesus unique in all the world?
Why did we ignore the clear truth of God and not move forward with him?
[1] Numbers 13:23-26
[2] 1 John 1:9
[3] 2 Corinthians 3:18
[4] Romans 12:1,2
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