Maybe some of you will understand this, and maybe some of you will not. But isn’t it funny how when God wants you to understand a principle, He keeps repeating it from different sources!? This has come up over and over for me, so I guess I need to share it.
Hebrews 4:2
2 For indeed we have
had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did
not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.
God has given us fabulous promises in life, and given us the certainty of a future in heaven with Him for all of eternity. For these promises to profit us, we must actually believe them! It’s a question of taking the things we have learned, and mixing faith with them when the situation comes up.
The following is a complete plagiarism. (I’ll
tell you where I stole it later, but I don’t think he would mind!) But it is the perfect example of some people
who had heard something, but not mixed it with faith. When the situation came up, they forgot what
they had learned.
Our ability to
function in any situation in life is dependent upon the teaching and
instruction we have had in preparation for the task. A surgeon performs a delicate operation only
with the background of an adequate medical education; a parent rears a child on
the basis of his own experience and acquired knowledge of parenting. Our relationship to spiritual truth is also
directly related to our spiritual education and maturity.
During His earthly
ministry Jesus constantly taught in an effort to prepare the disciples for the
future. The necessity of the cross was
taught directly by Jesus, as well as through the Old Testament scriptures. Similarly, Jesus taught the victory and certainty
of the resurrection. (John 2:19-22)
Following the
crucifixion the disciples were in a state of shock, afraid and worried. Mary Magdalene and the others were gripped
with “trembling and astonishment” upon finding the empty tomb,
and even the eleven disciples were incredulous. (Mark
16:8, 11) They were unable in the
excitement of the moment to relate those happenings to the teaching they had
heard from Jesus. They appreciated only
the mystery of the empty tomb.
But Jesus continued to
teach – to reveal Himself to the disciples – so that as His words were
remembered and believed, the truth of the resurrection became a reality
in their lives. Only then can we
proclaim our faith as did Thomas: “My
Lord and my God!”
Mallory C. Atkinson,
Jr.
April, 1985
Just as Jesus continued to teach and reveal to the disciples, I believe He keeps teaching and reminding us until we learn the lesson that will profit us. Take the promises God has made to us, and believe them! That’s where the profit is!