UNITED BY FAITH

“Now, since God has left us the promise that we may enter his rest, let us be very careful so none of you will fail to enter. The Good News was preached to us just as it was to them. But the teaching they heard did not help them, because they heard it but did not accept it with faith” (Hebrews 4:1-2).

I believe that a great deal of what we read and hear concerning things of the Good News… and scripture in general often does not connect “because they heard it but did not accept it with faith.” It is much like the Parable of the Sower where “the seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11) and it sown on four kinds of soil: it fell by the roadside, some on rocks, and some among thorny weeds and some fell on good soil and reproduced a hundred times more. (Luke 8:5-8)

The four soils are like four levels of hearing the word or four levels of faith. Only good soil faith could ‘hear it and accept it with faith.’ It seems much is lost to us if we do not hear or desire to hear the word with faith instead of just intellectual consent of some kind. As the Hebrews text above says: “But the teaching they heard did not help them.” Jesus ended the Sower parable with:

“Let those with ears use them and listen!” Jesus