Useful Bible Studies > Hebrews Commentary > chapter 6
Some fields always seem to produce good crops. The farmer does not have to work hard there, but still the harvest is plentiful. That harvest is both the evidence and the result of God’s goodness. And by it, God shows his goodness to the people who eat the food, too.
God sends the rain that causes the plants to grow. But he does not send rain only onto good soil. It also falls on other fields. And those other fields cause the farmer despair.
The soil in those other fields is full of weeds. The farmer plants good seeds. But the weeds and the farmer’s crops grow together. And the weeds take all the good things from the soil. So the farmer’s plants are too weak. There is no harvest, or only a very poor harvest, however hard the farmer works.
The plants called thorns and thistles have sharp points on their leaves or branches. The farmer cannot even collect hay or straw for his animals from fields that contain such plants. He can only burn the field. He does that because he wants to kill the seeds of those bad weeds.
We can learn a lesson from those fields. God showed his kindness when he sent rain to all the fields. And God shows his kindness to us in many ways. He has given gifts to us. We have received his Holy Spirit. He has provided his word, the Bible. He has done powerful things among us (Hebrews 6:4-5).
It is terrible when the reaction to God’s goodness is bad. God sends his rain so that a field will provide a good harvest. But in fact, some fields only cause trouble and difficulty. In the same way, God has given his word and his Spirit to us. So we should produce the results that God wants in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23).
However, sometimes after God shows his goodness to someone, that person decides to oppose God. That person has decided to serve the devil instead of God. Such a person cannot avoid God’s punishment. Farmers’ burn fields if they produce thorns and thistles instead of crops. And the Bible describes hell as a fire that burns continuously (Mark 9:43; Revelation 20:10; Isaiah 66:24).
Next part: Good works by Christians (Hebrews 6:9-10)
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© 2014, Keith Simons.