Hebrews 12:15 (NLT) Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God.
Hebrews 12:25 (NCV) So be careful and do not refuse to listen when God speaks.
Hebrews 3:15 (CSB) Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.
THE WRITER OF HEBREWS gives two instructions: one to those who have received God’s redeeming grace and one to those who remain outside His grace.
To believers, he says we should care for one another so that no one will fail to receive “the grace of God.” To unbelievers, he admonishes them not to harden their hearts when they “hear his voice.”
WE OBEY THROUGH PRAYER
HOW DO WE, as believers, work to ensure that both instructions are followed?
Through prayer and only through prayer. We pray for our continued fellowship and obedience, and we pray for the opportunity to share the Gospel in word and deed with others.
Jesus reminded us (John 15) that we are to “abide” in Him and promised He would abide in us; that He is the vine, we are the branches, and that, without Him, we can do nothing.
ASK FOR OPEN HEARTS
SO, WE CANNOT guarantee or ensure that unbelievers will listen to the Good News when presented, but we can pray in advance that God will give us the words to say, the opportunity to say them, and receiving hearts to hear them.
The rest is up to God’s Holy Spirit and the unbeliever.
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PRAYER
O LORD, help us to be faithful to Your command for our lives. Give us the people You want us to reach, the opportunity to reach them, the right words to say, and the right tone to say them, and give them open ears and willing hearts to listen and believe. We lift this prayer in the redeeming and sanctifying name of Jesus Christ, AMEN
LoveAndGrace 