New Years Eve 2012

New Year’s Eve Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34

Key Verse: Jeremiah 31:31
31  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

Devotion:
If ever there was a lasting gift that was to be given to anyone it was the gift of grace that Christ was giving us by coming into this world to be born as a man, live as a perfect man, dies as a perfect sacrifice and then to defeat death by raising Himself up on the third day for our sakes. It is because of this grace that we can now be forgiven from our sinful ways simply through asking for His forgiveness in belief that that is what He will do because He is the Lamb of God.

In the Old Testament the sacrifice was to separate the believer from the unbeliever so that the believer would not have to pay for their sins through the death of their first born. In the New Testament the sacrifice was not one that we could somehow muster up, it was not a near perfect sacrifice of an animal that had done nothing wrong, but was a perfect sacrifice by a man who had done absolutely nothing wrong!

From this point on it would not be the finger of God that had written the commandments on tablets of stone, but the finger of the Holy Spirit that would write these laws directly into our hearts because He would be the one able to do this from the inside. Without the Holy Spirit whom Christ had sent after His death and resurrection, we would not have a perfect get-out clause through which we could escape the death penalty we live under.

Though we would not strictly have to teach each other about God because the Holy Spirit does not need our help; though we are not required, God still invites us to teach and to preach. What better witness than the people around us getting to know God and following His commandment because of their belief. What better witness than the grace of God being shown to us after we have spent a life in sin. What better reason that to live a clean life because of the Holy Spirit indwelling each of us? God has given us this to look forward to, so what are you going to do in the coming New Year?

Points to Ponder:
Do you know how much Christ did for you?

Do you that Christ for His personal gift to you?