Journal Heb 12 (all references are from the ESV unless noted otherwise; changes in punctuation are mine)
Scripture: “It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline…Therefore, lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees…
- Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
- See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble…that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau…
For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet…but you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God…
Therefore, let us be grateful for receivinga kingdom that cannot be shaken, and let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe—for our God is a consuming fire…” Excerpts from Heb 12:7-29
Observation: What emphasis does the Writer give here towards the end of the Letter to Hebrews? Remember this is the Triune God we are talking about and conduct yourself accordingly.
Analysis: How flippantly do I relate to Jesus?
I know that in my daily life the struggles I have are with battling my sin, working out and mortifying the inner man, so that my heart is soft and not stone, and my ears are capable of hearing the whispers of my Lord.
But struggles with Jesus? No, I am not aware of struggles with Jesus. He is my Lord, yes. My Savior, yes. My Friend, yes. My disciplinarian? Yes.
However, I can get sort of confused with Who it is I converse with, and I think that is the point of the Writer here in Chapter 12. He lays the cards on the table and suggests, “Let’s understand what He is. You have not come to what may be touched. You have come to a blazing and consuming fire. The Triune God is a Holy God, and should be, must be, considered that way, otherwise, nothing else makes sense…”
Take Isaiah as an example:
“And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of Him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
And I said: Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”(Is 6:4-7)
This example indicates the seriousness of how I should approach the Throne, but not in some fakery or production of religiosity for public eyes to see and approve.
I have a mental picture I have developed over the years to help discipline me in worship. For those old enough to remember the sit-com, “Get Smart”, you may also remember the “Cone of Silence”. That, and determining I worship for the Audience of One, I try to keep my focus on the God that is a consuming fire but has also become the Propitiation for my Sin and has Atoned for me that I can approach the Throne of Grace.
Prayer: Father, Lord, you have said to come as a child, but you have also indicated that, while my faith is simple, I should be yearning for maturity—off the sustenance of milk ALONE and headed for the meat.
It is difficult to pursue You, for I have much to unload before loading back up again. Help me worship vigorously. Help the elders to hear your voice.
Amen.
Ricky Two Shoes