Week 29: July 17

"Hebrews" of the Bible

This might still be considered cheating but when I'm three weeks behind the Bible is also a good way to catch up :)

The Letter to the Hebrews encourages people to abandon the old covenant and embrace the new covenant of God. The author does this by emphasizing the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and how his blood shed basically trumps that of the bloodshed of livestock that the Old Testament of the Bible encouraged.

When I read of Christ's life, I always feel such a guilt at all he had to endure to ensure we could experience the Kingdom of Heaven. He was alive just as we are alive. He had to grow through infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, just as we do. And yet, he did so with purity. I think sometimes we assume that the world didn't have the same issues as we encounter now but we are so wrong! There was evil 2,000 years ago just the same as now. There was indecency, homosexuality, abortion, murder, theft....all these sins were present then just as they are now and yet Jesus Christ was able to hold strong to his faith as become our savior.

He was given the same ridicule and peer pressure that we all receive daily in our lives and it is such a defeated feeling to me that I cannot even come close to 10% of the disciplinarian that Christ was. In "Hebrews" it talks of Christ's time in purgatory....Yes, Jesus had to endure purgatory as a perfect human being with no sin. It makes me fearful for how long I will have to endure the time of purification before I am able to enter the gates of heaven.

"Hebrews" also talks of how our sufferings actually bring us closer to God, which is also something I've had to come to terms with throughout my life. Our lives are not meant to be without obstacles. It is through these challenges, through these sufferings that we become reliant on God and on Christ's sacrifice to push through these challenges. I noticed that "by faith" was a frequented beginning to a sentence because it is "by faith" that we grow and mature to tackle those challenges and become better people.

I continue to encourage myself to look to the Bible as a refresher of what God has in store for all of us after our time on Earth. Although this may count as cheating such some of the books are shorter, I will never regret diving into the word of the Lord to better myself and to encourage a richer meaning of life.