No Turning Back
Last week we discussed one aspect that connects us to past believers. We saw that believers in the Old Testament had faith that the Messiah would one day come. New Testament and believers today know that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, has come. What connects us is that we have faith that God would complete His promises to us. We also saw that we are connected through the promise that God will make us no longer strangers in this land. One of the future promises that He has for us is that He has a place for us. Today, I want to continue to look at Hebrews 11 with something of a warning.
“And indeed if they had been thinking of that country which they left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”
Hebrews 11:15-16
When we keep our focus on God’s promises, it is easy to remain hopeful about the promises that He has given us. But what happens when we lose this focus? What happens when we start to look around us with what the world offers?
Hebrews 11:15 offers this warning, when we look back at what we came from it becomes easier to return to it. We are all sinners, this is a fact that we all must face. However, a believer who is actively seeking after the Lord will avoid the things that causes them to sin. They keep their focus on God and His promise of a better land. This is why we are told to keep our eyes straight ahead and not look to the left or the right. “25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.” Proverbs 4:25-27. Hebrews 11:15 shows what happens when we avert our eyes from what God wants for us. The believer who takes their eyes off of Christ finds themselves with the opportunity to return to their sinful ways before they accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Proverbs 26:11 offers this wisdom, “11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.” One quick note, salvation is secure for the truly saved but this does not mean we are fully sanctified this side of the grave or rapture.
Hebrews 11:15-16 is in the middle of the list of those who were great in the faith. In the case of many, they had left a country for the promise of a better land. Look at it this way. After the Israelites left Egypt, they were on their way to the promised land. However, not long after seeing the miracles that God did in Egypt, as well as those on the way to the promise land, they chose to complain. “And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the entire congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or even if we had died in this wilderness! 3 So why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder! Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt!” Numbers 14:2-4. Even knowing that they were heading to a much better place, the Israelites wanted to return to a place where they were enslaved. They took their focus off of God and His promise for them. We are all a slave to sin. When we take our eyes off of God, we become like the Israelites or like the dog returning to its vomit. We return to our filthy habits and enslaved to what does us no good.
However, Hebrews 11:16 offers us hope. Since we are strangers in this land, as we discussed last week, we have a better country to look forward too. God prepared a better place for the Israelites; and He is preparing a better place for us as well. I want to encourage you all to keep your focus on Him. Do not let what this world offers distract you, for even the best that the world offers is nothing more than vomit. Only God can provide true and everlasting freedom from sin, our faith in His promises will give us the encouragement to keep our focus on Him.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex