Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, while it is said,

"TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME."

For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. - Hebrews 3:12-19 NASU

Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. - Hebrews 4:1-2 NASU

The author of Hebrews is warning us of the unbelief of Israel that did not allow them entrance into the promised land in their generation. The Hebrews began right, believing God would lead them to the promised land of milk and honey. God showed His power and might by delivering them from Pharoh by His right hand.

The Hebrews believed that their faith had correlating works. Without works, faith is dead. But they walked out of Egypt healthy and crossed the Red Sea as they saw their enemies drowned. But the deceitfulness of sin was ripe. The idea that faith and sin can cohabitate is delusional.

We all have sin and are liars if we say we don't. So, it's not that we can't have faith when there is sin in our lives. But those with faith cannot tolerate sin in their life. There is no mutual agreement. There is no amicable departure. There is no agreeing to disagree. There is only a putting off the old man and putting on the new man in Christ Jesus. Sin is not to be tolerated by the believer.

Sin is deceitful, causing us to believe that we still qualify for the rewards of God. And for a while, that may be true. God put up with many sins with the Hebrews before leaving them to their own devices for forty years. That whole generation had to die before God could move forward with His plan to bless all nations through the Seed of Abraham.

Sin is self-deceiving. We see the promise of God. God says take it by faith. We agree and go spy out the promise. And then our faith gives out with the first giant we see. We head back to the wilderness of defeat, wondering why God has let us down.

It is not God who let us down. We and our unrepentant sin are exchanging our faith with unbelief. If we jump ahead in the story of God to a shepherd boy named David, we will see what the Hebrews should have done in the wilderness.

When David was in the wilderness, he learned of the faithfulness and power of God. David was responsible for a little flock of sheep. When a lion came looking for a sheep to devour, David rose and killed it. When a bear came in after a long slumber, David also killed the bear. So, when David encountered a giant, his faith in the promises of God was solid. The giant went down with a thud. David was faithful with a little, and he received much.

As long as we are in the wilderness, separated from the promises of God, we can't ignore the lion and the bear. Satan wants to devour us as a roaring lion. Jesus has already defeated Satan and has given us the easier job of putting our foot on his neck. If only we would submit ourselves as living sacrifices to God, resist the devil, and he would flee, giving us a pathway to the promised land.

The bear is not the devil. The bear is our flesh. When we think we have conquered the flesh, it raises up from a deep sleep hungrier than before. The flesh cannot be trusted. You may have conquered it today, but I promise you it will awake when you least expect it, and it will be hungrier than before.

The flesh doesn't die; it must be crucified daily. We were crucified with Christ and are to remain crucified until we are raised with Christ. You may think your pet's sin is insignificant, but it will become a giant in the promised land. When you water the garden, everything gets watered: the flowers and the weeds. If God gives you an increase, everything in your life will increase, the good and the bad. If it is a big enough garden, like a promised land, the growth of the weeds can overtake you like many preachers experienced of our past.

How often has a little lust of flipping through a magazine turned into a primetime report of adultery affecting millions? How many times of a drink here and there to reduce stress turned into headlines of a high-profile Christian getting a DUI resulting from the focus of an extensive ministry? How often has someone put a little money away for other purposes resulted in fraud breaking national news?

The deceitfulness of sin will kill you in the wilderness and will kill many in the promised land if you get there without first killing the lion and the bear. You will not have the faith to take on a giant already in the Promise Land or a pet sin that has become a giant in the Promise Land.

The longer you allow the lion and the bear to roam with you in the wilderness the less faith you will have for the promise land the more unbelief you will have that God has ever even made the promise of a promise land.