The Bible, though the world's bestselling book, is increasingly neglected, with fewer people reading it and not as often. Despite its availability in ninety percent of American homes, often in multiple copies, and easily accessible online, dust settles on its cover far longer than it once did. Among churchgoers, who are expected to base their beliefs on Scripture, only 19% read the Bible daily, while a nearly equal percentage never read it at all, and the majority, 63%, read it only occasionally. Similar trends appear in other nations; in Australia, just 2 in 10 Christian churchgoers read daily, in Canada, only 11% do so with 34% never reading, and in Britain, while 35% of regular worshippers read daily, 40% do not read at all. This neglect extends to biblical literacy among children, with many British children unaware of fundamental stories like the birth of Jesus Christ or Noah's ark. Historically, the Bible was foundational to education and societal norms, but its forsaking has led to a loss of common knowledge and boundaries. As God's people, we are called to grow in biblical knowledge, evaluating how well we know Scripture, how often we study it, and whether its teachings guide our lives, unlike the world which is losing its connection to God's Word.

Believers are a present royal priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices within the church, nourished by Christ's exclusive altar. The Feast of Tabernacles mirrors Levitical consecration, with its seven-day structure and blood application to ears, thumbs, and toes symbolizing hearing God, serving, and walking steadily. This pattern emphasizes present sanctification over merely prophetic future, inviting believers to be continually filled from God's table. Neglecting this spiritual food risks stagnation, so the feast serves as a vital period of consecation, strengthening believers to serve alongside their High Priest.

The book of Hebrews addresses an audience approaching the end of their age, sliding into apathy and spiritual carelessness precisely when pressure demanded greater vigilance. Central to this decline was a neglect of studying and attending to God's word, which the author identifies as a primary cause of drifting away from "so great a salvation." Hebrews 2:1-4 warns that failing to give earnest heed to what has been heard leads to drifting, and this neglect carries consequences as severe as those under the Old Covenant, since the message confirmed by Christ Himself is superior to anything spoken through angels. This neglect is portrayed as a gradual, often imperceptible process comparable to physical sclerosis—a hardening that develops through the steady accumulation of lesser priorities rather than through a single dramatic failure. Hebrews 3 and 4 repeatedly return to this image, warning against hardened hearts that can no longer respond to God's voice. Such hardening begins with drifting and inattention, not outright rebellion, and only later matures into willful sin and falling away. The remedy proposed is daily exhortation and vigilance, since the word "today" in Hebrews 3:13 stresses the urgency of addressing spiritual condition before hardening becomes irreversible. Neglecting the study of God's word is tied directly to unbelief, which Hebrews treats as inseparable from disobedience. Israel's wilderness generation heard God's message but did not mix it with faith, and so it did not profit them; their failure to study, internalize, and act upon what God had spoken led to their exclusion from His rest. Elijah's episode at Horeb illustrates a subtler form of the same problem: even a zealous prophet could allow personal circumstance to eclipse his perspective of God, revealing a kind of unbelief that limited his usefulness despite direct encounters with the Divine. The discussion of the Sabbath rest in Hebrews 4 reinforces this theme, since the Sabbath is presented as a divinely appointed time set apart for pursuing God and hearing Him who speaks. Neglect of the Sabbath, like neglect of Scripture generally, is identified as an early symptom of spiritual sclerosis, since both require deliberately setting aside time to seek God's perspective. The account of a man who refused to study whether the Sabbath was binding, waiting instead for direct confirmation from God, exemplifies a hardened refusal to engage with what God has already revealed. Hebrews 4:12 ties these threads together by identifying God's word as living, powerful, and able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. Since drifting and hardening are conditions of the heart, the antidote is renewed, prioritized engagement with Scripture. Neglecting this study allows other voices—cultural, political, vocational, or organizational—to occupy the mind's attention until God's message can barely penetrate. The call throughout is to identify and lay aside anything, however legitimate in itself, that displaces regular, attentive study of God's word, since it is through such study that hardening is reversed, alignment with God is restored, and the salvation process—an ongoing relationship rather than a completed past event—is preserved rather than neglected.