Thought for the Day

Verse 13 - Anyone who thinks he has not sinned is deceived. The Bible says that all have sinned and come short of God's glory. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God" (Romans 3:23-25). By His death, Jesus made atonement for the sins of all mankind. Anyone can be pardoned if he turns to Christ and repents. When two Christians cannot fellowship, it is because one or both of them are walking in darkness in some area of their lives. "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (John 1:5-10).

We can have fellowship with Christ only by dealing with our sins. When we sin, we are not to hide, ignore, or excuse it. We are to confess and turn from it. Only then will we be cleansed from our unrighteousness by the blood of Jesus.

Verse 14 - The reverential fear of God brings blessing, but a hard heart brings ruin. If we do not respond to God in obedience when He speaks to us, our hearts will begin to harden. Each time we refuse to obey God, our hearts become a little harder. A person who continues resisting the Holy Spirit will make their hearts insensitive to God, and they will have no rest in their souls.

"Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end" (Hebrews 3:7-14).