I'm not sure how to classify chapter one, needless to say what verse was strikingly self applicable. Therefore, I think I'll have to leave that chapter as it is. As for the rest of Hebrew, I don't know how edifying I could be. I've read up til' ch. 4 and it's been more difficult to pin point thoughts than the Pauline letters.



"Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away." (Heb 2:1)

On a typical Sabbath, you see many people file into the chapel and take their respective seats that they have assigned for themselves since the beginning of time. During service, you observe many attentive ears listening to the inspired message from above. You see some sitting there in a daze, others squirming in their seats waiting for it to be over. Then you see a few writing frantically in their notebooks doing their best to capture every precious point made. That is not to say that these writers were better Christians than those who simply listened. The difference comes in whether the message heard is translated into something more.

The easy part comes in the listening. Everyone was created with two ears for listening. We can sit there and listen but hear only a noise in the background. In that case, nothing can be learned if nothing registered. We can sit there and hear the words being preached without much regard. As a result, we will hear the words in that moment and forget it by the time announcements are over. We can sit there and hear the words while we apply the message to our lives. In which case, we might agree by nodding or lower our heads in shame. In that scenario, we would have brought back something. However, that is not enough. Do we just acknowledge our lackings during that moment in time or are we bringing it home with us to improve ourselves? The utmost result of listening comes when we listen, hear, and execute.

To 'give more ernest heed to the things we have heard' encompasses paying attention to what we have heard. However, merely paying attention during that moment of speech doesn't guarantee that we will not 'drift away'. In order for us to be stable, what we have heard must always stay with us. When something 'stays' with us, it is manifested through our actions. We believe in God, therefore, we keep His commandments. The hearing of the commandments translates into 'I must do these things', which is manifested through our keeping of the Sabbath by attending church among other things. Likewise, when we hear the phrase 'be like Christ' and believe fully, our actions will show what we have learned.

In order for us to keep the commandments, we must first believe that it's essential to our faith that we keep them. Therefore, to 'take ernest heed' can also be translated into considering what you hear as something important, something you cannot do without. What we hear on the pulpit isn't merely a speech given by some chinese guy. It is the Words of God inspired by the Master Himself and only delivered through a vessel of God. Therefore, let us 'take ernest heed' to the Words spoken on the pulpit and carry it out in our daily lives so that we don't 'drift away'. James had it right on the money when he stated, "faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."

In essence....

1. Listen and hear
2. Believe what we hear is essential to our faith
3. Practice what we have heard