"...if you hear His voice..."

Reading Hebrews 3:7-11
"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts..."

In chapter two we were encouraged to "pay more careful attention to what we have heard." Attention is the first step towards transformation but this passage shows that transformation does not follow automatically from attention. We can give God our full attention so that we hear and understand his heart but fail to be changed by it. The rich young ruler asked Jesus a very insightful question and received an answer that led him to ask an even deeper and more personal question. Jesus gave him an answer that would have been transforming and the rich young man understood the answer in its depth, which is why he went away sad. Having grasped something of who Jesus was, having understood his own heart and the heart of Jesus, and having fully grasped Jesus words to him he chose to walk away. "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts...". It is at the point where action and obedience is required that we may surrender and release all or we may hold to what has become our God and walk away with sadness. This drama is playing itself out over and over again in the lives of people who have heard Gods voice. This is not about those who do not hear from God. This is about people who know the voice of God and say 'no.' 'This is a hard saying, who can hear it?'

Having heard and said "no" it is impossible to avoid going away sad. Attention to the word accompanied by affirmation of the word is transforming, liberating, and life-giving.