Saturday 23 Feb 2019

February 23: Hebrews 8:7-13

Key Verse: Hebrews 8:9
It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.

Devotion:
If people continue to break the laws, the law-makers soon look for ways in which they can change the laws or the punishment to dissuade people from breaking those laws again. When we look back over the Old Testament, we may well think to ourselves God was very patient the way He continued to give Israel instruction after instruction for so long; but then if we look into our lives nowadays, we wonder how Christ can put up with all the things that we do. It’s all a matter of self-judgment really because we need to take a long look at what we are doing in our lives before we can think about what others are doing or have done. But God has also given us the bible so we can see what others have done wrong in the past and try to avoid doing that in our own lives.

We (mankind as a race) have been the ones walking away from God all the time. He has faithfully set forward the law and has given it to us multiple times too... and yet we still choose to diverge from those laws which were written in stone! God made a covenant with Israel and they in turn started out by honouring that covenant from their side; unfortunately, they were the ones to break their end of the covenant on many an occasion, leaving God no choice other than to carry out a just sentence upon them.

Christ has made an excellent covenant with everyone promising He will save each one of us who turn to Him. It is not that we have to live in hardship or work ourselves to death in order to gain our reward; Christ simply wants us to believe in Him and follow His commandments. They are not grievous commandments and we no longer have to make sacrifices to atone for our sins – He has done that for us too! Our commandment is simply to do what is right for all that He has already done for us.

Points to Ponder:
Do you set limits on your friendships?

Are you treating Christ as your best friend?