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Let us Fear

This time of year people have a desire to be scared. They will dress up in scary costumes, go to haunted houses, and watch movies that keep them on the edge of their seat. While I have never had much of an appetite for such things, many enjoyed being afraid.  

 The Bible tells us a little fear can be a good thing.  The author of Hebrews wrote in 4:1, “Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.”

 

The rest he spoke of referred to their ancestors resting in the Promised Land. Unfortunately for that first generation, they failed to enter that rest when they turned on God (and Moses); when they weren’t complaining, they were doubting. They finally decided they didn’t want to go into the Promised Land because they didn’t believe God would give them victory. 

 

They failed to enter their rest, but the author warned of missing another, and better, kind of rest—eternity with God. The offer was still on the table, but if they rejected Jesus as their Lord and Savior they would miss out. It is a terrifying thing to miss this rest. 

 

A few verses later in Hebrews we read, “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience (v.11).”

 

So while I don’t like spooky movies and ghoulish costumes, it is good to have some healthy fear. First, we need to be scared of hell enough to stop and make sure our salvation is in order. Second, we need to be terrified of the reality that people we know are headed there. What are we doing to help them? We do not want them to fail to reach this promised rest, so we need to do everything in our power to help them see Jesus. 

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