The Edge of a Knife

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. Heb 2:1

I imagine most of us, if we're honest, would admit that there are times, spiritually speaking, when we feel like we are standing on the edge of a knife.

• It could be the allure of a new job with the increased pay and prestige but yet will cost ministry opportunities and family & marital time. 
• It could be the young man (or woman) at the gym who really listens to you and genuinely cares about your opinions and feelings yet could cost you the devotion and love you've pledged to your husband (or wife). 
• It could be the praise and gratitude offered to you for a service rendered to God which causes you to rejoice in praise but may also draw you down the path of pride and may subvert the very service you intended to render to God

I am confident the list could go on, just based on my own experience. But my point is not to beat myself to a pulp or to have anyone reading this beat themselves up either. Instead, it is my meager attempt to take Heb 3:13 seriously. The author of the book of Hebrews challenges his church to exhort one another each day so that none them will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

I plead with you, as a fellow pilgrim on the journey to the Celestial City, do not be afraid to examine your lives in light of God's holy Word. The reason sin has so much power, the reason Satan has so much success is that we somehow think we can live the Christian life on our own. God has given us His Word and His Spirit to go before us, to come behind us and to walk along side of us on this very perilous journey of faith.

As an encouragement, there are two verses the press into my soul, whenever I find myself on the edge of the knife. The first is in John 10 where Jesus emphatically states that nothing can snatch his sheep out of his hands (Jn 10:28) Since Jesus gave us the salvation we are resting in, doesn't it make sense that he will complete what he started?

The second verse is really a set of verses from Rom 8. Rom 8:1 bookended with Rom 8:38-39, communicate an amazing truth. Since there is now no (zero, zilch, nada) condemnation for those who are in Jesus, I am convinced that nothing (no one, no event, no power) can ever separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus.

To God Alone be the Glory