Pastor’s Bible Reading Schedule: Proverbs 22-24; Hebrews 2
Devotional Thought:
It is such a shame to think of the numbers of people who will be in hell who never really opposed the truth of the gospel or the reality of Christ. They simply never embraced the gospel personally. In their minds, they may have recognized the gospel as a needed truth for society and intellectually they may have acknowledged the story of the gospel: that Christ was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, died on the cross, was buried, and rose again the third day. However, they drift through life always knowing about salvation, but they never personally accept it. They die and spend eternity in hell, because they simply neglected the gift of salvation. These are the people who are addressed in the first part of Hebrews 2. “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.” (vs. 1) “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation…” (vs. 3) God pleads with the wandering sinner to come to the Savior and receive forgiveness of sin and life everlasting. The text teaches us that it is an overwhelming thought that God would even think of man, but He did more than that in that He visited him with the presentation of the gospel. Man was given dominion over the creation, as stewards of God, and Jesus Christ, who was God, became man in order to provide salvation. “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering.” (vs. 11) Jesus Christ defeated death, dread, and the Devil through His death and resurrection, making salvation possible for every human being. Jesus Christ who is God, became man so He could become sin in order for man to be reconciled back to God. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
The last verse is a tremendous encouragement to me. Jesus Christ knows what it is like to suffer temptation. He experienced the constant onslaughts of the Devil to get Him to make decisions contrary to the will of God. And, because He experienced such temptation, He wants to help us who are constantly tempted. I am so grateful to have such a loving, gracious, understanding, and personal Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Personal Requests:
• Lord, please help me to love people the way you love people. Help me to see them the way you do. I want to exercise the same love, patience, and sacrifice you set as an example.
• Lord, please help me to sense the urgency of the moment. The urgency to share the gospel and warn people of the impending danger of neglecting the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• Lord, please help me to run to you, who understand my temptation, and let you help me to live victorious over it. Thank you for understanding and desiring to help me during my times of temptation.