"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son ..." (Hebrews 1:1-2).
"See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven" (Hebrews 12:25).
The letter to the Hebrews begins with a great statement concerning the God who speaks to us. Towards the end of the letter, we are challenged to listen attentively to His Word and to act on our listening by living to please Him. "God has spoken" is always more than a statement about God. It's also a challenge to us. How can we say, "God has spoken" and refuse to listen to what He has to say to us? Often, we do not listen to Him - and our lives are the poorer for it! How dare we refuse to listen to God's Word? Often, we start out with good intentions, and then we get distracted. Other voices drown out the voice of the Lord. This is why we need more than "God has spoken." We hear that, and we say, "That's wonderful. We have the Word of the Lord." We also need, "See that you do not refuse Him who speaks." We have the Word of the Lord. What are we doing with it? Are we letting it speak to our hearts and change our lives? Let us rejoice in the encouraging message that comes to us from the beginning of Hebrews - and let us act on the challenging message that comes to us from near the end of Hebrews.
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