Thread by @BethMooreLPM

Hebrews 6 this morning. A word caught my eye in yesterday‘s reading (ch 5) that I almost wrote on but the Spring sunshine wooed me to the woods. It popped up again in Ch 6 today so I’m going with it. The word is “lazy.” Disclaimer before I even begin: exhaustion is not laziness.

I can’t think of anything that has exhausted me more thoroughly than this pandemic. Isolation is exhausting. Hypervigilance is exhausting. For those who fell ill, sickness is exhausting. Fear & grief are demoralizingly exhausting. So please don’t get that confused here. But let’s

reflect on what Heb 5&6 are saying about laziness. Heb 6 is straight forward & so needed by weary servants. Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord: “For God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you demonstrated for his name by serving the saints...Now we desire

each of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the full assurance of your hope until the end so that you won’t become *LAZY but will be imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith & perseverance.” Faith and perseverance. Memorize those 2 terms together. Make them

constant requests in prayer for yourself & other servants. This Christ-life we’re walking out here requires copious amounts of faith and perseverance. And here’s the gorgeous thing: God will not forget your work and the love you demonstrate for him by serving others. HE WILL NOT.

But let’s rewind to Hebrews 5:11 briefly. “We have a great deal to say about this and it is difficult to explain since you have become too lazy to understand.” I stared & stared at it yesterday because I see the general concept in play all the time. I know I can be guilty of it.

I’m talking about how often we dismiss what someone’s trying to explain to us because we’re simply too lazy to understand. Consider how often our positions on/interpretations of biblical issues have not been studied & developed personally but formed 2nd hand because we’re lazy.

We refuse to do our own homework. We refuse to study why some Scripture interpretations are often more layered than they’re regularly taught. We refuse to do the work of prayer. We just already know what team we’re on. Because we’re lazy. The examples are endless. We won’t listen

to one another on difficult issues and try to understand how their experiences differ so widely from ours because were lazy. We already know where we want to be on the matter & that’s the end of it. I’m talking about matters that matter to God. And because we are too lazy to try

to understand difficult things, we never increase in maturity (despite how mature we self-present) & our “senses” are never adequately “trained to distinguish between good & evil.” (Heb 5:14) See, good & evil or not always easy to distinguish. I’m going to have this on my mind

for a while. I’m going to be thinking how often I’m unwilling to understand difficult things to explain—not because I lack the brains or ability but— because I’m too dang lazy to pay attention & listen. Anyway, I found it very convicting. Look around you and start to notice.

Look in the mirror & start to notice how often we don’t go to the trouble to understand because we’re too dang lazy.

OK, well, have a good day. LOL.

Seriously, I want so badly to keep growing. Let’s keep going to the work of understanding difficult matters that matter to God.