Morning Musing: Hebrews 4:14-16

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“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens – Jesus the Son of God – let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There is a fantastic new ad campaign running in various markets across the country right now called, “He Gets Us.” Its goal is to get people interested in Jesus. Actually, it goes beyond that. People are generally interested in Jesus. People aren’t interested in the church, but they don’t connect the two like they should. That’s often the church’s fault. This campaign aims to address that. And this is a good thing too, because Jesus is someone worth being interested in. The writer of Hebrews offers us some really powerful reasons why. Let’s take a look at this together.

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Growth Is Mandatory

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This week we are continuing our series, Generations. Last week we focused our attention on Generation Z and talked about the importance of following. This week the Millennials are in the docket. What is it that Millennials most need to hear in order to get their faith right in the season of life they are in? Read on to find out.

Growth Is Mandatory

I’ve talked before about our gardening exploits. The little garden spot we use does weird things. Last year, for instance, while we had three tomato plants from Jim, only one of them actually produced a tomato. It made its grand appearance in June, grew to about the size of a grape, and stayed that way until about October when it finally turned red. With all of that in mind, this year we tried to get smarter. We have put all of our plants in the same area of the yard, but we put them all in pots. Six plants. Six pots. Easy to maintain and water and weed and the like. What could go wrong? We even have tomatoes on both of our plants. I took a picture of two of them just to document the evidence. And we have blossoms on the squash, zucchini, and cucumbers. Lots of them. But would you believe we still don’t have any produce? We got one little zucchini about the size of my pinky finger (which disappeared before it ever got any bigger), and that’s it. Oh, at the boys’ request, we planted a whole bunch of two different types of sunflowers including one variety that’s supposed to get up to 12-feet tall. About a quarter of those have popped up including just three of the twenty or so seeds we planted in the actual planter box. I’m starting to think there’s something weird about that whole side of our house. Or maybe it’s just us. 

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Digging in Deeper: Philippians 2:4

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“Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

In a famous children’s story whose original form and meaning makes absolutely no sense in our modern culture, Peter Pan and the Lost Boys lived their lives in the blissful world of Neverland where they had an endless stream of adventures uniquely suited to tickle the fancies of young boys which worked out just fine because they never grew up. In Neverland you remained locked in childhood forever. The whole thing is made to sound terribly fun and romantic; something that everyone should want for themselves. By the time you reach the end of the story, though, you are left with the sense that in spite of Peter’s seemingly unending bliss, there is something he’s missing out on that would be an even grander adventure than he’s known before: growing up. In the culture of its day, the story was a reminder that while childhood is a wonderful time, it was not only necessary but good to grow up and experience the wonders of the world waiting on us there. Somewhere along the way, though, that final moral was lost from the story, and we embraced the supposed virtue of youth with gusto and have made living in a perpetual state of adolescence a goal worth achieving. I say all of that to make sense of the observation that the dream of Peter Pan is alive and well. We are living in a day when a great many of the movies being made are an attempt by filmmakers and moviegoers alike to relive their childhood adventures. Along the way, the younger members of Gen X and the older Millennials are inviting their kids into their adventures. I got to experience a taste of this last night as I watched the latest Sonic the Hedgehog movie with my boys. Let’s talk for a few minutes this morning about what I saw and heard.

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Morning Musing: Hebrews 4:12-13

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“For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever gotten in over your head? You started some project or set off down some path and quickly (or not so quickly) discovered that it was going to be a whole lot more than you bargained for. What did you do then? Did you give up or push through? The path of wisdom in such situations isn’t always clear and is going to vary from one situation to the next. Well, something that can become more than we bargained for in the beginning is engaging with the Scriptures. We are always wise to do it, but as the writer of Hebrews cautions us in this well-known passage, we are playing with fire when we do it. Let’s unpack this and talk about why.

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Morning Musing: Hebrews 4:10-11

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“For the person who has entered his rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from his. Let us, then, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

My family is in a season of life when we’re tired just almost all the time. Nearly all of our time these days is occupied by school activities, sports or other extra-curricular activities, or church activities. I’d add work activities to that list, but one of us works at school and the other works at church, so I didn’t feel the need to repeat myself. There aren’t very many days when we just get to rest. We long for them, but that’s just not the season we are in. I wonder sometimes, though, if it’s really our season or merely the choices we make and the priorities we set. Either way, we yearn for rest. The author of Hebrews has been talking about rest, but it’s not the same kind of rest we want. It’s better. Let’s talk about it.

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