Watch Out

Watch out, brothers and sisters, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. —Hebrews 3:12

When the Jews in Numbers 13–14 failed to believe God, God said it was an indication of an evil heart of unbelief. Because when they failed to believe Him, they were despising Him. It wasn’t simply fear.

We tend to talk about fear as if it’s something understandable. If someone is trying to break into your house, of course you’re afraid. There’s something to be fearful of. However, fear often takes us down a road where we get paralyzed, and we refuse to move forward in faith. Then that fear becomes rebellion; it becomes dis- obedience, and it keeps us from being able to experience the rest God has for us.

Just as those children of Israel didn’t experience God’s rest because of their unbelief, we need to watch out so that we don’t do the same. Numbers 13–14 isn’t a story just for them. “These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction” (1 Cor. 10:11).