Hebrews2:1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. 3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.
This passage of scripture shows us the appropriate response to God's gracious overtures of mercy towards us, in lieu of the great sacrifice that was made to save us from the natural results of sin. The Bible teaches us that the wages of sin is death, which refers not merely to a curse per se, but to the natural result of a wrong course of action. The reason why the apostle Paul says that we should not let sacred history slip from our minds, is because the Lord went to very great lengths to have the scriptures written out and preserved through the centuries, so that each generation would have the necessary knowledge to make informed choices about their eternal destiny.
There are those who couldn't care less about what Christ went through to save us, and so in many minds there is no interest in eternal salvation whatever, and things of a spiritual nature never perk the interest of some people. Many live only for the here and now, with no thought of eternity or an eternal judgment that will decide the destiny of all mankind, and so the hearts and minds of millions of people are centered only on the present and not on the future.
The fact of the matter is that we have all been given the freedom of choice, and the decisions we make will determine what the outcome of this present life will be. God who created us in His image has purchased us through redemption, and so because we are His by creation and redemption, we will have to answer to Him for the life he has given us. Furthermore, The Lord will take our lives in to His own hands, whether we willingly give it to Him or not. He will take some lives for preservation, and he will take some lives for destruction, but He will take our lives into His hands, and so the choice to be preserved or destroyed rests with each individual.
That's why the above passage of scripture in Hebrews poses the all-important question to every person saying, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? " There is a gospel that has taken deep root in modern Christianity that portrays Jesus Christ as only being loving, and kind, and merciful, but not being just. This one-sided view of God when espoused sets us up for defeat, for it then causes us to take His grace for granted, thus leading to a life of presumptuous sin.The Bible presents a balanced view of God so that we may not fall into the fatal error of thinking that He is too good to destroy. Let's read:
Exodus 34:6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
In our day, with all of the many different "gospels" in circulation, Christians and non-Christians alike need to be very careful lest we take God's love for granted, for the day is coming soon when all of the superstition and misconceptions of God will be swept away, and God will render to every man his due according to the deeds done in the body. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which reminds us that there are consequences for our actions, whether good or bad, and that because of this sacred truth, it then behooves us to live soberly and righteously in this present world. Let's read:
Revelation 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
May we so live and do as those who understand the implications of this verse, for our eternal destiny hangs on our response to it. "Good night" and God bless!