bobbirich

Babies are fed, changed, and taken care of without interacting with the caregiver on anything but a very superficial level - because they are completely helpless, the caregiver loves and nurtures without expecting anything in return As the child matures, the relationship grows and ideally eventually the caregiver and the child develop a unique love relationship as a result of the caregiver's unconditional love at the start As Christians, we begin by finding out the basics, learning the facts and the commands and enjoying the unconditional love of the Father However we cannot stay in that stage - in order to , as the slogan goes "be all that you can be", we must delve deeper and learn more about our Father, spend time getting to really know Him and develop a relationship with Him that is uniquely our own Just as in a caregiver/child relationship, it is the child's choice to return the love of the caregiver and to develop the relationship or turn away and go their own way, so it is our choice to draw nearer to our Father; to learn from Him; to grow more and more like Him; to respond to His voice or to turn away and abandon Him and His love

I don't think there is a difference - I think the writer's purpose is to remind those he is writing to of who they are, what they have and what they would be giving up and turning away from if they went back to the legalistic rules and rituals of Judiasm - especially as "partakers of the Holy Spirit" when to partake in something means to participate fully and completely in it I know in my life I have drifted very far away at times, but the Spirit has always stopped me at a point that I think would be the farthest I could get - He's turned me around and brought me back and I think the writer of Hebrews is referring to anyone who would at that point reject the Spirit and refuse to come back continuing to get farther and farther away - this particular portion has always been confusing and hard for me to understand because I cannot see how we can truly be "partakers of the Holy Spirit" and continually ignore and/or deliberately turn away from Him - in my own life, I know I could not have continued on past the point where He stopped me - it seems to me that if we can ignore or reject the Holy Spirit, we are not truly "partakers" at all I also think that this is the warning; to listen and obey the Spirit, to be continually aware that we have this tendency to turn away, to stay close to God through prayer, study, reading and fellowship with other Christians

If we truly believe that Jesus is Lord; that He is the Annointed Messiah sent from the Father as promised, that He was born a physical birth, lived a physical life of teaching and setting an example, died to reconcile us with the Father, rose again triumphant over death and lives sitting at the right hand of the Father reigning with Him, we are free from fear and condemnation "Holding fast to" this profession allows the Spirit to use it to remind us when we tend to the "drifting away" we are so prone to - we will be sensitive to His voice calling us back and respond by obeying - we are free from the danger of abandoning God and His "heavenly calling" in our lives - our hearts and minds are softened being reminded of who we are through Christ and that He is actively caring for us and guiding us in our everyday lives

The writer is continuing to remind us who Jesus is Jesus is the Word of God God can look at our hearts, our intentions, our motives-nothing can be hidden, we cannot lie or justify ourselves By keeping our focus on Jesus, we will be sensitive to "hear His voice" that calls us back when we drift and keeps us from going too far

God rested after He completed the task He had set out to accomplish - Jesus sat down at the right hand of God after He completed the task God had given Him - God has given us a task and we must do all we can to finish well Completing that task entitles us to "God's rest" - ultimate, eternal comfort and peace; final homecoming and settling into our true home We must be sensitive to "hear His voice" and listen and obey when our tendency to "drifting away" tempts us to put aside our "heavenly calling" - we must be careful not to let distractions and discouragement pull us further and further away, leading us to abandon the task The danger is that instead we will continue to ignore "His voice" and continue to "harden our hearts" and deliberately and finally abandon God

Because "it's so easy to get our eyes elsewhere and lose our focus", we are susceptible to influences and distractions that draw our attention away from Jesus and therefore interfere with our relationship We become parched and dry and do not accomplish the work we are to do- we need to be reminded to "hold on" to have "courage" and to keep going forward with confidence - these things are accomplished through maintaining our relationship with Jesus and our relationship with Jesus is encouraged and strengthened by our fellowship with other Christians

We are reminded of the admonition to be aware of and guard against our tendancy to "drifting away" Everything that the writer has said up to this point is encouraging us to "hold on" to what we know through Christ-to stay close to Him-to maintain our relationship with Him-to trust Him even when we are tempted by distractions and discouragement We are the ones He has redeemed; we are "holy brethren"; we are participants with Christ in a "heavenly calling"; we are the house He is building - because He has fully and completely participated in physical life and death and accomplished His task, He is fully and completely able to help us "hold on" and remain confident until our task is finished

We are not only immune to "drifting away", but prone to it - I think the parable of the sower helps us examine how well we listen and obey - the Hebrew word for listen is "shema" which implies hearing and reponding in some way that makes a change in how we live daily - without the response we are not truly listening and therefore are prone to forget, be distracted and let the problems and responsibilities of life pull us away from our commitment to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength We must "pay more careful attention" to "what we have heard" - make a commitment and take the time to get alone with the Lord - pray, study, listen and respond in a way that changes something in our lives

Jesus suffered rejection, humiliation, temptation, hunger, homelessness, as well as physical pain in order to identify completely with our suffering - we also suffer in order to learn compassion and dependence on Him - I don't see how we can avoid suffering but if we live trying to, we not only miss learning compassion and dependence, but we live in bondage to the fears Jesus died to free us from I know in my own experience, the most memorable lessons I have learned are when I have suffered to the point that I realized only God could bring me through - it's strengthened my dependence on Him and kept me close to Him as well as softened my heart toward others who suffer Suffering is always uncomfortable and painful while we are going through it, but God is not concerned so much with our comfort as He is with our relationship with Him and with others - sometimes I think He allows us to suffer to get our attention back to Him and to keep us from the "drifting away" that we mentioned earlier

One who...has inherited all things, is co-creator, is the exact representation of God's very nature and upholds all things with the power of His word...must be divine! Jesus sits at the Father's right hand to reign over His creation. As God's Son, Jesus has taken on the role of building God's family, guiding His children, teaching by example and caring for us as we wait for the culmination of His "grand design"

Isn't God's Word amazing?! - All of us have read and meditated on the same words, yet there are so many different views expressed as the Holy Spirit works among us to keep us on track and in tune, yet shows us all of the many facets of what we are studying! --- just amazing! I'd just like to add that as far as "Hebrews" would understand "Son" (especially as the firstborn son) it would be as the one who is to inherit a double portion, usually follow in his father's footsteps as far as occupation, carry on the family name, and be the spiritual leader among his siblings. Looked at from this viewpoint, we can definitely see how Jesus was God's firstborn Son and the builder and leader of our "family".

I too am new to online Bible studies and posting to bulletin boards (also hope I'm doing this correctly!) - live in southern New Jersey - mom to grown married son with one granddaughter and one daughter who is still in high school - looking forward to everyone's comments on the questions <><