Hebrews 4:12-16, October 9-15, Year B:

The Word of God is quick and powerful; yet, it rarely constitutes the guiding standard by which most modern Christians live their lives.  This has been shown by a variety of studies and surveys.  We know that this Word is often a cutting and a piercing message; so we avoid it, or explain it away, or find a more comfortable by which to govern our decisions and our conduct. 

 

And what of this God with whom we have to deal?  We ignore that part of God that sees through our pretense and hypocrisy.  We reject the idea of God as all-powerful, all-knowing.  We forget that when we talk to God, we are in conversation with the King, the Creator.  We want a casual God--one who blesses our prejudices, answers our prayers the way we want them to be answered, loves us even when we're bad, and basically helps us through life's difficulties and finds us, for the most part, to be rather cute and harmless little creatures.

 

Of course, if we ignore, reject, or soften  the first two verses of this passage, we also essentially destroy the power and beauty of 4:14-16.  This part of the passage tells of Jesus, the High Priest, who identifies with all our weakness and pain.  We are encouraged to hold fast our profession.  We are urged to come boldly to the throne of grace through that Great High Priest, where we will find mercy and grace to help "in time of need."  Through Christ, we will find that eternal Sabbath for which we so desperately yearn.

 

And so you see, dear reader, that if we strip away the difficult things of God, we also lose those things we find most precious.