Taking Stock

Dear brethren,

Today’s readings:

Leviticus 4-7; Hebrews 3

Hebrews 3:12-13
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 Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

How does an evil heart of unbelief develop?
One of the main drivers is allowing sin to rule in our lives again. Sin wants us to say "it's ok", "just this once", "God will understand", and before we know it, we become calloused and insensitive, as Paul put it in 1Ti 4:2, having one's conscience seared with a hot iron, and here (if you believe Paul as the writer of Hebrews!), hardened, no longer even ashamed of sin in our lives.
And as the spiritual cirrhosis progresses, unbelief sets in and slowly but finally, a total departure from God.
As the medical adage goes - prevention is better than cure! The solution here is frequent stock taking and exhortation. Obviously, personal evaluation is important and most readily executed. Yet oftentimes, it just takes a outside view to identify our errors. And that’s what brethren are for! To exhort, remind, encourage, comfort, help one another along in our Christian race.
To the giving end, always in meekness and with grace and love (Gal 6:1; Col 4:6; Eph 4:15). To the receiving end, always with a humble and contrite heart (Psa 51:17).
Wherefore let us take heed and take stock, even on a daily basis, upon ourselves, with one another, that we remain sensitive to sins and never be hardened unto unbelief.