Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. (Hebrews 3:12 ESV)
Fear Not… Then Examine Yourself
My lawn mower stopped working last week. I discovered an important part of the mower that I had been ignoring. These days, in a zero-turn mower, each of the rear wheels has it’s own transmission. And while I regularly check the mechanics of the mower deck, the air pressure in the tires, the air intake and exhaust… I did not know that just like older mowers, the wheels are still driven by an old-fashioned belt.
I had never checked THAT belt.
And it broke.
I could avoid responsibility and claim that this breakdown was simply natural decay and the effect of time and friction. But I should have been checking the drive belt, just like I check the rest of my beloved mower.
A Christian needs to examine ourselves, too. Maybe we regular check our obvious habits. Maybe we regularly check the ten commandments. Maybe we regularly check our words, and our deeds.
But this verse reminds us to check the hidden areas of our heart, too. Maybe even some of those areas that we are not aware of.
Some hidden disbelief, when Jesus says, “do not worry.” (Luke 12:29.) Some hidden disbelief, when you fear Jesus could not possibly keep loving you. (Hebrews 13:5) Some hidden disbelief, when we doubt Jesus REALLY bought our forgiveness. (Psalm 103:12)
Those kinds of disbeliefs are not obvious. Those kinds of disbeliefs are not necessarily harmful to others. Those kinds of disbeliefs are often hidden deeply, unnoticed, and ignored.
But they lead us away from God.
Stop it.
Fear not, then examine yourself.