Are You Persuaded?
Have you ever disciplined a child only to hear him or her say, “That didn’t hurt!”? Perhaps you remember when you were that child.
Did you ever see the look on a child’s face when you said, “This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you”?
That child was unpersuaded.
The writer of Hebrews spends time in the early chapters cautioning believers against hardening their hearts like the Israelites Moses led out of Egypt. The people’s rebellion provoked God, and he swore they would not enter the rest he had prepared for them. The Hebrew writer says these people were the disobedient. The Greek word used here for disobedient is apeitheo. The a at the beginning of the word means “not.” Peitho means, “to persuade.” The disobedient people would not allow themselves to be persuaded.
These people who rebelled against God in the wilderness were the very same people who had seen demonstrations of God’s power in the plagues he brought on the Egyptians. These same people had then crossed the Red Sea on dry land. They had seen God split rocks and pour out enough water for thousands. They had eaten “the bread of angels; he sent them food in abundance” (Ps. 78:25 ESV).
When we read the story of the Israelites’ rebellion, it’s easy to think we would have done better. How could they not have been persuaded by what they saw? How could they have preferred slavery in Egypt to living in obedience to the all-powerful, loving God?
When the going got tough, they actually believed it would have been better for them to have remained in slavery to the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness! They were not persuaded that God intended good for them.
We have God’s Word and his Spirit, but are we fully persuaded?
I want to look deep down at the way I think and live compared to what God’s Word says about how my faith should form my behavior.
Jesus told the Jews of his day, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They protested that, as the offspring of Abraham, they had never been slaves to anyone. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”
Paul reiterates this in Romans, saying, “You are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness” (Rom. 6:16 ESV).
I’ve been thinking about whether I, myself, am persuaded that sin—all sin—is slavery. Like most of us, I haven’t physically committed the big, obvious sins like murder and adultery. I can honestly say I don’t outright lie or steal. But am I persuaded of what Jesus says about the sins of the heart?
It’s easy to become complacent about the “little sins” no one sees. It can require some serious thought and prayer to be aware of them. I needed an example from my own life of acting on a truth of which I was persuaded.
Many years ago, I wasn’t feeling well, but the symptoms were difficult to define. I finally narrowed it down to a problem with blood sugar imbalance. The treatment involved completely cutting sugar and refined carbohydrates from my diet. I had to be thorough, and it had to be long-term. When I slipped up, I promptly suffered for it. Immediate consequences were helpful in training and persuading me to stay on the path.
I maintained that discipline for over two years. Then I gradually realized that I could compromise a little here and there without serious consequences. I still had to be careful, but I could “cheat” judiciously now and then. Over time, I learned how close I could get to the edge of too much without going over. I was no longer persuaded of the need to be extremely careful, which made it more difficult to keep making healthful, but difficult and inconvenient, choices.
Please understand that it is not my intent to preach about dieting here. Rather, I want to reflect on how persuasion translates into action. Am I unwittingly enslaved to sins that don’t seem to have immediate consequences? Do I really believe there are no small sins? Do I think no one can see them?
Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. (Ps. 19:12-14 ESV).
Scripture for Reflection
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Ps. 139:23-24 ESV)
They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. (2 Pet. 2:19 ESV)
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:38-39 KJV)
Reach for More
I find it helpful to meditate on Scripture when it is put to music. You can find musical versions of Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God,” and the hymn “Search Me, O God” on YouTube. Try learning one you enjoy listening to and using it during your prayer time.
Through the gift of a faithful mother and grandmother, grew up knowing Jesus as a friend. Married for nearly two-thirds of her life, there has been time for several seasons, from homeschooling to owning a coffee shop. She has three grown children and nine grandchildren. An element of this season is writing about literature and life at Plumfield and Paideia.
Photograph © Rachel Strong, used with permission
