There are many passages of Scripture where we fail to take the main point to heart, either because it seems so basic or because we immediately go to the more complex questions we have.
For example, Hebrews 13:5 says: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” That is an amazing truth! But we often fail to grasp it, because we immediately go to the difficult questions about this text, like: “What if a person stops believing? Will God forsake them then?” That’s an important question to ask, but before we go there, we need to stop and be amazed at what is crystal clear.
And in this text, what is crystal clear is this: God never forsakes his people. Sometimes one person will betray another or abandon another. This happened to Jesus. Judas betrayed him, and the rest of his disciples left him on his way to the cross. The point of this text is: God never does that. He is not like a human being in this way. He always, always sticks with you.
That is amazing! God is not like us, who sometimes fail one another. He never leaves us. That is an incredible promise to trust in.
In addition to missing the sheer force of this simple reality by immediately turning to the more detailed theological issues like perseverance of the saints, we can also miss the force of this reality by thinking to ourselves “well, of course God would never forsake his people. Duh. What kind of God would do that?” And we move on.
We never stop to ask, though, why it is obvious that God would never forsake his people. And it’s precisely because of texts like this, so clearly stating that truth over and over, everywhere. It has become obvious because God has said it so clearly.
It would be possible to conceive of a god who is not faithful. Such a being would not be worthy of the name “God,” but it is conceivable. God has made it clear that he is not such a being. He is faithful, and he is so faithful that he stated this truth so clearly, forcefully, and often that it has become “obvious” for us — a given — so that we never have to wonder about it. But in having it as a given for us, it’s easy to take it for granted. So, let’s not do that. When we see amazing truths that we almost take for granted stated in the Scriptures, let’s not take them for granted. Let’s marvel at them once again and be grateful, not missing the obvious truth in our quest to ask the deeper questions (as important as those are).
The Bible affirms the importance of stating the obvious. For if the obvious was never stated, it would never have become obvious.