Hebrews 13:7-17
Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. 12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 13 Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14 For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. 15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. 16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
Here the writer (many assume it to be Paul....I tend to agree) of this text reminds us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He furthermore brings to remembrance the old testament, the old covenant practice of shedding innocent blood for the covering (not complete and utter forgiveness) of sins. But when Jesus came to be that perfect Lamb of God, He who was perfect, and completely innocent of sin, was sacrificed for our sins, once and for all. Total and complete forgiveness for our sins was paid for. There's no need for the old, but only the new. Jesus. Verse 14 is quite telling as well. In the New Living Translation it is said thusly:
"For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our city in heaven, which is yet to come."
We are illegal aliens here, man. We don't belong. This place if foreign to us. We shouldn't be too comfortable here. It's not about our comfort anyway. This life on earth is just a nanosecond in eternity. Our preparation for our real home. We are (as Larry Norman says) just visiting this planet. We are not permanent residents. Even at death, our bodies may stay here (momentarily) but we go to be with Jesus. It is often said, that who you lived for on earth is who you'll live with in eternity. But even that is not completely true. If someone who never received Jesus, or served Him at all, receives Jesus on his/her deathbed......they're going to be in heaven. We should rejoice in that. Jesus even spoke of it in a parable. Remember the one about the workers who were hired to work for a certain pay for the entire day. The landowner kept going to hire workers up until the last hour. Then when he paid them, he started with the last ones hired. They received the same pay as the ones who worked the whole day. The ones who were hired in the morning were kind of upset. The landowner told them that they were paid what they were promised, that it was his land, and his money, and he could use it the way he pleased. (To read the complete story please go to Matthew 20:1-16) God doesn't want anyone to go to hell. That's why He sent Jesus to die for our sins, so that we could be forgiven, and be able to come into the presence of God, both now, and forevermore! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee glory!!!
Also in this text (our main text for today) we are reminded to continually give Him praise. Praise Him in the morning, praise Him in the noontime, praise Him when the sun goes down. Hmmmm remembering that hymn. Give Him thanks.......thank Him for what He's done, what He's doing, and what He will do in our lives. If all God did for us was send Jesus to die for our sins....wouldn't that be enough to praise Him for??? I think so. But He's done that, and so much more. He's promised to always be with us, to never leave or forsake us. He's promised that we would be blessed. But He also promised that in this world we would see tribulation! We don't hear about that much, but it's true. But Jesus then said, "Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world." (This can be found in John 16:33b...."b" meaning the second sentence in the verse.) So no matter what........why don't you just praise Him? Praise Him when things seem to be going your way, and when they don't. The beautiful thing about serving God is that even when things don't seem to be going your way, He's promised to make them work together for good. And maybe no one you've ever known has ever kept a promise they made to you. I guarantee you, God won't do that. Even if you feel worthless, and unworthy of God's love. He loves you. Your feelings will lie to you, God won't. So if you feel that God doesn't love you.......rejoice, because He does! His word is bigger than what you feel. He's promised it will not return to Him void, but it will accomplish what He sent it forth to do. I think that deserves another.......eeeeeeeeeeeeeee glory! Hehehehehe. I won't be able to fulfill everything I want to do, plan to do, or even promise to do......because of circumstances, attacks of the enemy, and sometimes (quite frankly) complacency on my part. I wholly admit it. Whether it be fatigue or perhaps my own feelings of inadequacy at times......I will fail people from time to time. I'm human......so are you. You're going to fail people sometimes to. Heck, I've failed God many times too. And you know what? He still loves me. He loves me when I'm in His perfect will, and He loves me when I'm off in left field somewhere.........when I am questioning, and confused.......and seemingly lost in my own little world. He's bigger than all of that.......and for that folks. He deserves our trust, our love, our praise, our worship, and all that we have. It all belongs to Him anyway. Why not surrender all to the Master of the Universe. The true and living God. For He is worthy of all honor, glory, and praise. Any good we do, brings Him honor and glory. We shouldn't seek it for ourselves, but point them to Him. Have a great and blessed weekend. :-) James
