See Hebrews 3:1-12 (below)
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
– Hebrews 3:12
There is a hint of Good News in the words of v. 12: we may have an unbelieving heart which would lead us to fall away from God. But the move is ours, not God’s. In other words we can be on our guard against such evil inclinations. We can resist the temptation to disbelieve in God’s goodness and abandon our heavenly calling. Furthermore, the encouragement here is to take care: we can resist these inclinations and we should indeed take care.
To take care is an active proposition; we are not to sit idly by, or simply entertain the random godless thoughts that come at us. We are to filter the outside influences that dismiss God from the world or our lives. Sometimes these come in the form of suggestions toward immoral ideals or values: we don’t really need to forgive; we deserve a better lot in life – even at the expense of others. Other times these may come from direct temptation to unbelief: there is not God; there will be no Last Day; we can determine for ourselves what is good and what is evil. We are to guard our hearts from such unbelief.
Another manner in which we must guard our hearts is the first line of attack of the devil, the world, and our flesh. We are tempted to believe that God really doesn’t want good things for us. We are tempted to believe that God’s past goodness is a false basis for future hope. We are led to doubt that God’s character is immutably good.
But we have a heavenly calling. We have a Savior who has been glorified for what he did for our eternal salvation. We have a God who is perfectly faithful. The gravest evil is when we ascribe to God anything that would undercut his grace, truth, love, and faithfulness. God is good – all the time. As we remember that, and draw near to him, we will find that he is the living God, and that all he has promised he will do.
Hebrews 3:1-12
Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers put me to the test
and saw my works for forty years.
10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
they have not known my ways.’
11 As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest.’”
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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