Scripture #2: See to It

Hebrews 3:12-13

    See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.  But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

 With only two passages to go, here is one of many in the New Testament that shows just how much we need each other to live a kingdom-first life. With the use of the phrase "see to it" and the phrase "let us" which is used an astonishing twelve times in Hebrews, the writer is calling us to be involved in each other's lives.

Visiting someone when they are sick, taking them dinner or helping them move are each important and encouraging expressions of love. But with this statement the writer is surely calling us to something deeper. He is calling us to be our brother's keeper. We are to take action to keep another person from developing a hard, unbelieving heart. Scripture would not issue such a call unless this was a very real possibility.

All of us can let our hearts get in some bad places.

• A leader abuses his position.
• A friend disappoints us.
• A tragedy happens and it seems so unfair.
• Another Christian hurts us and seems to have no remorse.
• We develop a chronic illness that turns our world upside down.
• Or, on the other hand we make a ton of money or have some great artistic success.

 We can let these kinds of events harden our hearts. Because of such times we must both see our need for others and see our need to be there for others. Any expressions of Christian faith that don't practice these kinds of relationships are going to miss the mark. And it's all so important because only the pure in heart will see God.