The Father has prepared places on the right and left hand of God for certain people. All this was done during the six days of creation. But if those individuals do not follow the Lord closely each day they will come short of their inheritance. It will be given to those who have been more faithful and diligent.

Paul speaks of grasping that for which He has been grasped. A certain destiny was decided for Paul from the beginning of the world. Paul was seeking each day to grasp that for which He had been grasped by the Father.

A mark has been set before each of us. Whether we actually achieve our destiny depends on our faithfulness and diligence in seeking the Lord.

If you go through life and miss the plan of Christ for you, you have missed everything of lasting value.

Now we turn to the fourth chapter of Hebrews.

The Jewish Christians to whom the Book of Hebrews was written were saved, as we use the term, had been filled with the Spirit of God, had been touched by the powers of the age to come, and had suffered persecution. These experiences reveal they were at least on the same level as we and probably a bit more advanced than most of us.

But the whole Book of Hebrews is a warning to such (including us) that we are not there yet. "Mother, are we there yet?" The answer is, no.

The writer advises us to fear lest we come short of the rest of God. We can tell immediately that being saved and filled with the Spirit are not all there is to the salvation experience.

The preceding chapter points out that the Jews who had left Egypt died in the wilderness. The idea is that if we do not move ahead to the goal of redemption we also will die in confusion and barrenness.

Just exactly what is the rest of God? What is our land of promise? What are we being warned concerning?

The rest of God is the center of God's will for your life. When you are abiding in untroubled rest in God's will, then you are in the rest of God. As simple as that.

What was the problem then of the Hebrew Christians? They were drifting back into sin. They were being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. They were not exhorting each other daily to press forward in Christ.

You know what? We should be exhorting each other daily to press forward in God. Let me make a suggestion. You know those three people you call up each day and fill them with the suspicions that are circulating concerning certain members of the church? Well, instead of running down the saints why not exhort each of the three people to press forward in Christ? Skip the destructive and stress the constructive. The Lord will bless you.

Don't list all the faults of the people you are slandering and then say, "let's pray for them." This is monkey business. Do this privately if you wish. But when you call your very best friend, tell her to press forward in Jesus. When she complains you didn't feed her with the local color tell her you have turned over a new leaf and are going to start acting like a Christian.

God will reward you richly.

To be continued.