Proverbs 8:33. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.
Is there anything in your home that you have neglected? A plant? Your garage? Your own health?
One of the worst things we can do in life is to neglect the wisdom of God. To neglect means to not pay any attention to something, to not care about it, or to stop doing it. What happens when you neglect brushing your teeth? What happens when you neglect eating healthy foods? What happens when we neglect your work, or your children? Bad things, of course.
The New Testament’s warning is even more intense.
Hebrews 2:3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation.
What happens when we neglect God’s wisdom in the form of God’s salvation? What happens when we fail to pay attention to our salvation and continue to work it out as Philippians 2 says? What happens when we fail to remember the gospel and our forgiveness in Christ? What happens when we neglect our imputed righteousness and access to the throne room of God?
The answer is we are in danger of not escaping (Heb. 2:3). Escaping? Escaping what?
Well if the answer is damnation, the wrath of God, hell if you will, then you might be letting out a sigh of relief thinking something like, “It’s OK. I’m already saved.”
But the warning goes a bit deeper. Have you treated your salvation like your birth certificate? You were born, you have the document to prove it, and that document is locked away in a safe place, never to be looked at again (or only on vey are occasions). The author of Hebrews is saying that if this is how treat our salvation, with such neglect, were we ever truly saved in the first place.
The person in Christ does NOT neglect their salvation. They think about it all the time. They rejoice in it. Marvel at it. Are in awe of it. Just like wisdom, they grow in it, and in their understanding of it. They pursue it as both complete and ongoing. The pursue it in the word and in the church. By faith and by faithfulness.
To neglect our great salvation, the wisdom of the gospel, is to be in danger of this sober truth –you might not actually be in Christ? Why do I say this? Because I know that when we are in Christ, God will never neglect us. The Spirit will drive us in a pursuit of Christ-likeness. To live is Christ virtually makes neglecting Christ and his salvation impossible for the believer.
Yes, we stumble. Yes, we forget. Yes, we become complacent. But we who are never neglected, will never neglect to the point of damnation. He who began the good work in us will be faithful to complete it.
You: Have you been neglecting the wisdom of the faith in any way?
You in Christ: How does knowing that you will never be neglected in Christ help you to never want to neglect Christ?
Christ in you: What can you do to pay closer attention to the word of Christ and the Body of Christ?
Pray: Father, in Christ you will never neglect me. Help me to never neglect you and your love for me. Amen.
To Live is Christ 