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I don’t usually offer such lengthy portions of Scripture in my blogs, but it is worth it. I am truly being blown away by these two passages as I read them slowly this morning. I pray that you will be as well.

The New Testament passage is informed by the Old Testament, and yet goes so much beyond it. Hebrews can be a difficult book to grasp sometimes. As I read our Resting at the River’s Edge passage for yesterday, Moses’ introduction and sealing of the Old Testament Covenant brought to mind the passage in Hebrews in which the writer explains the introduction and sealing of our New Testament Covenant. I will let the passages provide their own lesson. I have added some clarifications in [brackets].

Exodus 24:
^3bHe [Moses] got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the LORD. ⁶Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. ⁷Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.”

⁸Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Hebrews 9:
¹⁹When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. ²⁰He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” ²¹In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. ²²In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

²³It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things [that is, the man-made tabernacle] to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. ²⁵Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶Then [if that were the case] Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Hebrews 10:
¹The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year [as was required in the Old Testament Covenant], make perfect those who draw near to worship. ²If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. ³But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, ⁴because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
⁶ with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.

⁷ Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, O God.’

⁸First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). ⁹Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. ¹⁰And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹²But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. ¹³Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, ¹⁴because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

¹⁵The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

¹⁶ “This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”

¹⁷Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”

¹⁸And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.

¹⁹Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled [with the blood of Jesus] to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ²³Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. ²⁵Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hallelujah!

In this series, “The Heart of a Worshipper” (HWS) I’ve written about the need for our hearts to be hungry for God. The hungry heart gives birth to the pursuing heart, causing us to pursue God more diligently. Pursuing God is the first step toward becoming changed people. We then looked at the transparent or unveiled heart. When we pursue God whole heartedly, we open our heart to Him and others. That unveiled heart leads to a vulnerable heart, which is the topic of today’s blog.

A Transparent Heart is…A Vulnerable Heart (Part 1)

In the last blog in this series, I wrote:

“A transparent heart…One that allows the Light of Life (Jesus) to shine through it so that He can reveal to us what is hidden in its deepest, darkest corners.”

That’s vulnerability! Perhaps as you read that statement your reaction was similar to mine when I wrote it…”OK, NOW I’m scared.” Becoming that vulnerable almost evokes a “fight or flight” response. I want to go on the offensive or run away (and sometimes I can’t decide which). But why am I so afraid?

Why Am I Afraid?
I’m afraid because I know there are things hidden in my heart that I’m ashamed for my Lord to see. I must be forgetting 1 Chronicles 28:9b which says:

“for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.”
          1 Chronicles 28:9b

Or perhaps I’m overlooking Psalm 139 which beautifully describes how intimately the Lord knows us:

¹      O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
²      You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³      You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴      Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
¹³     For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁵     My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
      When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
¹⁶     your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me
      were written in your book before one of them came to be.
               Psalm 139: 1-4, 13, 15-16

One of the exciting things about being in Christ is that He already knows our thoughts (even the very worst ones), and He STILL loves us! It’s not like He died for our sins, and then really realized what they were! The scripture that affected me the most before coming to Christ was Romans 5:8:

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
          Romans 5:8

He knew I was a sinner when He died for me and He still did it. He didn’t wait for me to clean up my act before He demonstrated that He loved me.

I’m afraid because of the punishment I imagine He might think is appropriate. Hebrews 12 deals with this:

And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son.”

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons…Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
          Hebrews 12:6-12

When I keep my eye on the prize – being conformed to the image of Christ, discipline has a sweet aftertaste to it that balances the bitter experience. Divine discipline produces the Christ-like qualities that I so desire. But if I don’t allow Christ to discipline me (by shielding my heart from Him), I remain unruly in my thoughts and deeds. (Please don’t interpret this to mean that I control the Lord’s disciplining of me. I do not. God can choose to discipline me whenever and wherever He wants. Keeping a vulnerable heart toward Him, however, invites His discipline of me.)

Even still, I might be afraid sometimes of how He might discipline me. In those times, I remind myself of God’s goodness. Lamentations 3 encourages me that “The LORD is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him;” (v. 25). Psalm 145:9 reminds me that “The LORD is good to all; He has compassion on all he has made.”

It is healthy and appropriate to fear the Lord. It is also healthy and appropriate to understand that our God is a loving and compassionate God. If your fear of the Lord outweighs your understanding of His great love for you, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the merciful and compassionate God that can be found in the pages of your Bible. Start by doing a search on the words mercy and compassion.

Finally, I’m afraid because when I let down the guard that is around my heart, I give another the power to hurt me. While this is true, the opposite is also true…when I let down the guard that is around my heart, I give another the power to bring healing. Christ cannot bring healing until you allow Him to open the wounds of your heart. Some of the deep, dark secrets in our hearts stem from sins that have been committed against us. Sometimes those sins are root causes that have led to our own sins; often they are painful experiences or memories that we’ve allowed to change our behavior…and usually that change isn’t in the direction of Christ-likeness.

When I was 14, we moved away from the city we had lived in for as long as I could remember. How painful it had been to leave friends! With all the emotional passion of a young teenage girl, I vowed never to make close friends again because it hurt too much to lose them. And so I lived that way through high school, college and my first few years out of college. “Why should I make friends?” I would ask. “I’m just going to move away soon and I’ll never see these people again.” I refused to become vulnerable because I didn’t want to be hurt again. It wasn’t until I found Christ and became surrounded by loving men and women of God that I began to realize the foolishness of my approach to living without pain.

At 22 I was a very selfish, uncaring, uncompassionate woman of God. At 53, I’m a little less selfish and a little more caring and compassionate…but I still have a long way to go. Because the Christian walk is one of constant growth (change) if we stay vulnerable to the Spirit of God as He transforms us (changes us) into the image of Christ.

More on the vulnerable heart tomorrow!

Note: There are many references to Scripture in this blog. All are to the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible unless otherwise noted.

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
1 Corinthians 1:1

Yesterday’s blog about Paul’s calling (and my calling and your calling) encouraged me to dig a little deeper. Simply by looking up the other usages of the word that is translated “called” The word is only used eleven times, and in all cases it is used one of two ways: (2) by Paul referring to his calling as an apostle and (2) by various authors to refer to those who are children of God. Yesterday we looked at Paul usage of the term. Today, let’s look at how it is used in relation to others who trust Jesus:

• In writing to the believers in Rome, Paul says we are called “to belong to Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:6)
• Paul addresses his letter to the Roman believers as those who are “called to be saints.” (Romans 1:7)
• In 1 Corinthians, Paul describes us as being “called to be holy.” (1 Corinthians 1:2)
• Later in that chapter, Paul writes that for those who are called by God, Christ is the power and wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:23-24)
• In the book of Jude, those who have been called, are described as those “who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:1)

In each of these cases, the word translated “called” means “ongoing (or continuing) choice.” It is the derivative of a word that is also translated “called” but refers to the single act that is done or has been done. Looking at this word gives us more insight into our calling. Read over this list slowly to understand who you are in Christ and what you are called to do or be.

• We are called into fellowship with God’s Son Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:9)
• We are called to live in peace. (1 Corinthians 7:15c, Colossians 3:15)
• We are called “by the grace of Christ” (Galatians 1:6)
• We are called to “freedom” (Galatians 5:13, NRSV)
• We are called to live a life “worthy” of the calling we have received (Ephesians 4:1)
• We are called to “one hope” (Ephesians 4:4)
• We are called “into His kingdom glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:12)
• We are called to “live a holy life” (1 Thessalonians 4:7, 2 Timothy 1:9)
• We are called to “share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:14)
• We are called to received the “promised eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:15)
• We are called “out of darkness into His wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
• We are called to suffer unjustly (1 Peter 2:19-21)
• We are called to return evil or insults with a blessing (1 Peter 3:9)
• We are called to God’s “eternal glory in Christ” (1 Peter 5:10)
• We are called to “the wedding supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9)

That’s quite a list! As I created the list there were several items that caught my attention. Rather than talk about them, let me give you an example and a challenge, then offer an encouragement and a prayer.

The example: As I typed “to live in peace,” the questions came into my mind “Am I living in peace? Am I appropriating God’s peace?”

The challenge: Read over the list prayerfully. Which of the things you are called to would God like you to experience more fully? Make it a part of your daily prayers for the next two weeks.

The encouragement: God doesn’t call us to anything He cannot give us or enable us to experience. If He has highlighted one of these “callings,” it is His desire to help you attain it.

The prayer: I pray that this week you will apprehend the grace that God has for you. And I bless you with a supernatural ability to see God working in your life as you pray to bring about His calling this week.

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
1 Corinthians 1:1 (NIV)

As I read these words today, I was struck by Paul’s confidence in his calling.

Shortly before reading this verse today, I had written out my calling in one sentence, then broken down that calling by looking at several words and phrases within the sentence. My calling doesn’t come with a single word title as Paul’s does.

I am called to help men and women become the people God intended them to be.

I am confident of this. I’m not so confident about how He wants me to go about it! :-) And that’s OK. Because He’ll direct and He’ll open doors and He’ll provide opportunities.

It was an interesting task, though, writing out my calling. Although I have had the single sentence calling for many years, I have never broken it down to its various components and defined what that meant. May I suggest you take half an hour (or half a day, or perhaps even half a year) to sit before the Lord and define your calling? It will help you focus your activities and your life. Even if you don’t know how He wants you to go about fulfilling that calling!

Back to Paul’s calling: As I looked at Paul’s assertion, two things caught my attention – the word “called” and the phrase “by the will of God.”

The word translated “called” is the Greek word kletos, and it means “invited, that is appointed…called” (G2822 in Strong’s Greek Dictionary). Now there seems to me to be a bit of a difference between “invited” and “appointed” but both words are interesting. Paul was (and we are) invited to serve God and we are appointed to serve God. Nowhere does it say that we are commanded to serve God. Both words, invited and appointed, have a bit of honor associated with them. I feel honored when I receive an invitation to a party or am appointed to a position. Both mean that I am considered to have value by the one offering the invitation or making the appointment. I love that! I am invited by God and appointed by God to serve Him. What an honor!

Paul says specifically that he was called “by (or through) the will of God.” The word “will” might best described as the “ongoing (or continuing) choice.” God’s calling is not capricious or made lightly. Rather, it is a choice that He made and He continues to make. Being the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), God doesn’t change his mind once He has invited and appointed us. In fact, Romans 11:29 tells us that his gifts and calling are irrevocable.

Friends, we have been invited to serve the Living God, the Creator of the Universe, and it is an invitation He never rescinds. That’s something to get excited about!

Watch this space…more about calling tomorrow…

Have you been enjoying Hebrews as you’ve Rested at the River’s Edge with us this month? I sure have. I’ve especially enjoyed chapters 10-12. Let’s look at a passage in chapter 10:

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
         Hebrews 10:19-23 (NIV)

If you’ve also been reading through the Old Testament with us, this passage makes so much more sense. Some of the references are still easy to miss though, and I can’t help but comment on them. They’re just too good.

V19: We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus – In the Old Testament, we read that only the high priest was allowed to enter the most holy place, and then only once each year. They entered in fear and trepidation, lest their sin not be atoned for and they be struck down by the holy and perfect God who dwelled in that place. But now, under the new covenant, we can have confidence to enter the most holy place because we enter by the blood of Jesus. In the Old Testament, they sprinkled the blood of a sacrifice upon the altar and other items in the temple. We no longer have to do that because Jesus’ blood has already been shed.

V20: By a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body – Jesus has opened a new and living way – one that surpasses the old way of sacrifice. There was a curtain in front of the most holy place that the priests entered through. That curtain was torn in two when Jesus died on the cross (Matthew 27:51) – we now enter through His body. In other words, if we want to enter the most holy place, we must go through Jesus, the mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5).

V21: And since we have a great priest over the house of God – Jesus is our great priest (Hebrews 4:14)

V22: Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water – Jesus made it possible for us to draw near to God. We are to approach Him sincerely, not in rebellion or flippantly. We can approach Him in full assurance because of what Christ has done for us – He has sprinkled our hearts with His blood to cleanse us from our guilty conscience. Again, the priests sprinkled the blood of a sacrifice to cleanse the Israelites from their sins, and they washed to purify themselves. Figuratively, Christ has sprinkled our hearts with the blood to cleanse us and He has washed us with pure water.

V23: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful – The writer of the letter to the Hebrews is encouraging the Jewish believers, who would have understood all of the Old Testament references, to continue to follow Christ unswervingly. That last line – “for He who promised is faithful” – the entire passage is proof that God is faithful. He was faithful to His promise to send a Messiah, to save His people, to make a way for the entire world to be blessed by the sons of Abraham.

The writer then continues to encourage the Hebrews to be faithful, leading into chapter 11 which begins:

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
          Hebrews 11:1

It’s being sure! It’s being certain even though we can’t see it!

What follows is a long line of people who demonstrated their faith through their actions. You know many of them, but what I especially love are verses 32 through 34. After going through a long list of people who make everyone’s top ten list of heroes of the faith, the writer of Hebrews almost sounds exasperated to me when he writes the following:

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
          Hebrews 11:32-34

The author is saying “Hey guys, I don’t have time to tell you all these other stories, but man, the things they did through faith – conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, quenched the fury of the flames, and whose weakness was turned to strength. Wow! That’s the person I want to be! Our faith turns our weakness into strength. Hallelujah! That’s worth shouting about!

I know that Hebrews 10 and 11 were readings last Friday and Monday, but I didn’t get a chance to blog about them and they are chapters that speak so strongly to me. Tomorrow I’ll blog more about faith…Did you know that there is something beyond faith? Tune in tomorrow!

March took us through the Old Testament law presented in Leviticus and then we began reading in Hebrews, a book that was written to the Jews and draws the relationship between the grace of the new covenant available through Jesus and the law of the Old Testament. In April, we’ll finish the book of Hebrews, take a few days off in the New Testament, then move into Romans. I love Romans. It was a verse in Romans that made the most impact on me when I was resisting the influences of God on my heart. He was trying to reach me, but I was running the other way. And then I read Romans. Wow! But I’ll save more about that until the middle of the month!

We’ll also read Numbers. Don’t get bogged down in the book! You might try reading it in the New Living Translation – it puts all the counts in a table, the way we would record the information today. If you find yourself in overload, take a step back…what’s the significance of the size of the total number — is it large or small? What’s the relative size of the various tribes? Know this: Each one of us is important to God. He keeps track of each of us. I’m so thankful for that!

Shortly after mid-month, we’ll begin Deuteronomy. It’s a great book — Moses is preparing to die and he wants to say to remind Israel of all that he has taught them on their journey. We’ll be journeying ourself into Job at the same time. What a perplexing book! But God has a great message in the book, so stay tuned.

I  hope you’re continuing in the journey through the Bible. Please don’t get discouraged if you fall behind…just keep reading. God will honor your efforts as you rest at the river’s edge with him a little each day. He will speak to you as you pursue Him.

To download a PDF of April’s reading schedule, click here.

Enjoy your time at the river’s edge this month!

 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they [the Israelites] did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
          Hebrews 4:1-2 (NIV)

For this Good News – that God has prepared a place of rest – has been announced to us just as it was to them [the Israelites]. But it did them no good because they didn’t believe what God told them.
          Hebrews 4:1-2 (NLT)

“The message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.”
“It did them no good because they didn’t believe what God told them.”

It is not enough to hear the Gospel message. It is not enough to be in mental agreement with it. Rather, we must combine what we hear with our faith. We must believe what God has told us.

The word that is translated “faith” in the New International Version and “believe” in the New Living Translation is a word that means “rely upon.” There is a subtle difference between believing and relying upon. I believe that I would be healthier if I were to walk on my treadmill more often, but I’m not relying upon it. If I were, I’d be walking more often. I believe that my blogs help others to grasp the things God has for them, but I don’t rely upon that. I rely upon God to bring clarity and faith into the hearts and minds of readers.

If God’s message is to have impact in your life, if it is to have an impact in my life, it must be one that we choose to rely upon, not one we simply agree with. As our pastor said on Sunday, “Faith is a verb. It’s an action word.” If our faith is not a verb – if it is not something we act upon, it is not faith.

One of the ways God teaches us to rely upon Him and His Word is by removing from us other things we might putting our trust in. For example, my husband and I have our own business. I have not been able to draw a paycheck from that business for six months because of current economic conditions. God is surely teaching me that I am not to rely upon my business to provide for my needs, but to trust Him. I am often tempted to rely upon my husband for affirmation, companionship, guidance, love and strength. Now it’s not bad for me to anticipate, even expect, those things from my Godly husband, but my reliance must be upon the Lord. Phil’s recent heart attack has been an opportunity for God to speak to me about where I place my faith and trust. Is it in a healthy husband who takes care of me and our life in so many ways, or is it in God? If my reliance is upon my business or my husband, or anything else of this world, I am setting myself up for disappointment, discouragement and ultimately failure. But when my reliance is upon God, I have everything I need.

Only God has the message that gives eternal life, and that message is often called the Gospel, or “good news.” The Gospel message is that God has done for us through Christ what we could never do for ourselves. We could never do enough or be good enough to spend eternity in heaven with God, so He stepped out of heaven in the form of His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus then did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves – he paid the price for our sin by sacrificing His life for ours – He died so that we might live. And that’s the message of Scripture. And when we believe – rely upon – what God did for us – dying for our sins so that we might have eternal life – He will give it. Scripture says that Christ died so that we might have life and life more abundantly (John 10:10). That abundant life is the eternal life we will live in heaven with God, but it is also Christ here with us now. It is living in His Kingdom while still a resident of the planet earth – living in constant relationship with Him. It’s a life of blessing even when there’s no paycheck to be had and a husband who is not able to do all that he once was. It is a life of peace in the midst of the turmoil of the world.

Well, I’m on the verge of writing a blog about what it means to live an abundant life (ok, maybe I’ve crossed over into it), and this blog is about relying upon the message we’ve received. I’ll save the rest of the abundant life blog for another time and close the relying upon blog here.

May I ask the question…upon what or whom do you rely? Is it the Word of the Lord, the message of God given to you? Let me encourage you to “add faith” to the words of Scripture that you hear and read. Then live the abundant life.

We live in a culture almost obsessed with angels. Angels are good. A few years ago I shattered my elbow. A friend visited me immediately after my surgery. On his way home he had a vision of a mighty angel standing at my bedside stroking my broken arm. This was not your run-of-the-mill angel (if there is such a thing) – this was a mighty warrior angel. Because of how he described the angel to me, I now think of my guardian angel as Mr. Clean – you remember, the big, muscular African American bald man on the commercials. That’s the angel God has assigned to me. And I’m pretty happy about that!

But if you’re reading along with us this year, on Friday, your Resting at the River’s Edge reading included the following passage in Hebrews 1:

⁴So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

⁵For to which of the angels did God ever say,

          “You are my Son; today I have become your Father” ?

                  Or again,

          “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son” ?

⁶And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,

          “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

⁷In speaking of the angels he says,

          “He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.”

⁸But about the Son he says,

          “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.⁹You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God,

has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”

¹⁰He also says,

          “In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

¹¹They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment.

¹²You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed.

But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”

¹³To which of the angels did God ever say,

          “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

      Hebrews 1:4-13

I don’t usually quote such a lengthy passage, but do you hear the Hallelujah! Hallelujah! The angels worship the Lord! The throne of Lord Jesus will NEVER end. The Lord laid the foundations of the earth, the heavens are the works of HIS hands. He remains forever. And it is the Lord who sits at the right hand of God.

Angels are great…but let’s give our worship to the One who is worthy of it!

Paul Harvey died recently, but one of the most popular segment on his broadcasts was the one in which he always concluded “And now you know…the rest of the story.” He took a familiar bit of information and expanded on it by giving the back story or the previously unknown conclusion. His added information made the bit of known information come alive to listeners because they now knew…the rest of the story.The Old Testament very much provides “the rest of the story” for Christians. Yes, we can know all that we need to know for salvation, even all that we need to know to live a Godly life; but without knowing the rest of the story, we lack a depth of understanding of God’s character and ways and can develop a very lopsided and inaccurate view of God.

Develop an Appreciation for God’s Love of His People
The Christian who ignores the Old Testament is likely to have a lesser appreciation of God’s love for His people. The passages in Matthew (12:23) and Luke (13:34) where Jesus weeps over Jerusalem (“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.”) has little context without the rich history of God calling Abraham 2,000 years earlier and consistently being faithful to the promise He had made with Abraham. The Old Testament reader follows God’s love from His creation of man in His own image through His initiation of a covenant with Abraham (and effectively all mankind), through His giving of the “perfect law that gives freedom” (James 1:25), through His protection of the wandering Israelites, through His preservation and leading of a (rebellious) people in all kinds of circumstances – always leading them toward an intimate relationship with Himself. Knowing these things gives God’s love a history, and love with a history is somehow more powerful than love discovered yesterday. I’m not sure I can adequately explain that except to say that one of the things that strengthens the love I have for my husband is knowing that he has loved me for a very long time. It doesn’t grow dim, it grows deep. God’s love has had a very long time to deepen. As a 21^st century Christian, I am the blessed recipient of that deep, deep love.Develop an Understanding of Your Role in God’s Unfolding Plan
In addition to lacking an understanding of the depth of God’s love, Christians who don’t spend time in the Old Testament may easily develop a misunderstanding of their role in the unfolding of God’s plan. A study of only the New Testament can lead us to believe that our salvation is primarily about us – what God did for you and me. And while it is true that God so loved each of us that He gave His only son to die for our sins so that we might each have eternal life by believing in Him, it is also true that all of history is about God preparing a people for Himself. My salvation is as much about God’s plan from the beginning of time as it is about me.

There is sometimes a tension in the Christian walk between the individual and the corporate expression and understanding of our faith. The answer to the tension is that we must take a “both/and” approach. Both individual and corporate worship are important. Both individual and corporate prayer are needed. Both individual and corporate sin must be dealt with. Our salvation must be understood both as an individual salvation, and as the salvation of a people destined to worship and serve God forever. As a Gentile, my salvation wasn’t Plan B. God always intended to bless all the nations through Abraham. Studying the Old Testament gives readers a greater appreciation for the “bigness” of God’s plan and His ability to follow it through thousands of years until it impacted their life. It can help us appreciate that we are a part of something so much bigger than what we might have previously considered.

See God’s Faithfulness Throughout History
Which brings us back to the topic of the faithfulness of God toward a people who fail Him regularly – I’m convinced that God’s faithfulness cannot be fully understood with just our New Testament record. Yes, the New Testament provides examples of God’s faithfulness. Yet I find that “the more the better.” Hebrews 11 gives a list of saints who “by faith” overcame the circumstances of their lives and trusted God. God rewarded their faithfulness with His own faithfulness. Reading the list in Hebrews 11 begins to build the faith necessary for the trials we will face, but it’s a poor substitute for reading the Old Testament accounts of those stories. And learning the stories in Sunday School class, as many children do, is akin to reading the Reader’s Digest version out of sequence and over a long period of time. Yes, we have the head knowledge of the facts (perhaps), but it’s going back to the Old Testament as a new creature in Christ that builds faith as we read of God’s faithfulness over and over and over again. Surely, if He has been faithful throughout history, even when His people lacked faith and behaved badly, surely He will be faithful to me! Reading the Old Testament builds my faith as I see the faithfulness of God.

Learn How God Works in the Lives of His People
In addition to helping the reader understand God’s abiding love for us and helping to build our faith, reading the Old Testament illustrates to the reader how God works in the lives of His people. The New Testament focuses on a period of perhaps one hundred years. The Old Testament covers 2,000 years (excluding chapters 1-12 of Genesis which covers the creation of the world up to the call of Abraham). Often, the New Testament teaches principles while the Old Testament illustrates those principles worked out through the lives of people who had a relationship with God. For example, James tells us that faith produces perseverance, bringing us to maturity. That teaching is demonstrated in the life of Joseph. The New Testament urges me to persevere; Joseph shows me how to do so. Additionally, a careful reading of the Old Testament teaches us much about how God speaks to His people. An excellent resource that illustrates this point is the book Developing Your Prophetic Gifting in which the author, Graham Cooke, uses the Old Testament examples of prophecy to teach his readers how to hear the voice of God. The Old Testament illustrates how God works in the lives of His people and how He speaks to His people by allowing the reader to walk through history with them.

Scripture is God-Breathed…Every Bit of It!
Finally, there are two critical reasons for Christians to broaden their horizons and pursue a study of the Old Testament: Scripture tells us that it is valuable and Jesus quotes it often. II Timothy 3:16-17 is a commonly memorized passage: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” This passage doesn’t say “The New Testament…”, it says “All Scripture…”. That verse alone tells me that there is much value in the Old Testament. Additionally, Jesus and the apostles frequently quoted from the Old Testament. It is clear that Jesus had a thorough knowledge of the Old Testament and many of His stories, parables and sayings refer back to it. Without some knowledge of the background of those passages, the quotes become a bit out of place and time…they lack “the rest of the story.”

I’ve just been reading in Leviticus about all the offerings the Israelites were to offer to God and what (finally) struck me is that in every case, they use the word “offering.” It might have been a peace offering or a guilt offering or some other kind of offering, but they were always an “offering.” They may have been required offerings, but they were still offerings. That is, the Lord required these offerings as a way for them to receive forgiveness (albeit temporary forgiveness) for their sins or show their devotion to Him. And yet, they are called “offerings.”

What began to sink in was the attitude of humility that the word “offering” carries with it. An offering is something given in hopes that it will be accepted – the husband-to-be offers his hand in marriage to the woman in hopes that she will say “yes” or an offending co-worker brings a cup of coffee or donut in hopes that relationships can be restored and peace can returned to the office. An apology is an offering – it is given in humility and in the hopes that it will be accepted. The attitude of the heart in each case is humility and hopefulness. Of course with hopefulness there is anticipation of good things to come.

When I read in Leviticus 5 that a person is to bring a lamb or a goat, but if he cannot afford that he can bring two young doves or pigeons, and if he cannot afford that he is to bring a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, I am ashamed to admit that the thought that ran across my brain was “who’s to say what he can afford?” Immediately the Lord whispered in my ear – “It’s a heart issue.” In other words, our hearts ought to be so devoted to God and so sorry for our sin that we desire to bring the very best and most we can. It’s not a “how little can we get away with to make up for our sins?” Rather, it’s how much can I offer to the Lord to show Him how sorry I am and how much I love Him?

And that brought me to the question – “How do you view your offerings?” Are they obligations, or are they opportunities to express your love to God? Do you give them as a part of your Sunday morning routine, or with an attitude of humility? When you write out your check or search for the money in your wallet, is it just something you do out of duty, or is an act of worship? Don’t get me wrong. Obedience is a good thing. Bring your tithes into the storehouse (Malachi 3:10). But obedience that is not done with the right heart is its own form of rebellion. Think of the child who spits out his apology in obedience to his parent’s command. The child was being “obedient”, but not making a sincere offering from his heart. No, in his heart there was rebellion – “I’ll say I’m sorry, but I won’t mean it. So there!”

I doubt that you make your offerings with the same blatant attitude as that child, but I know that there are times when I unthinkingly offend God by giving my offerings with a heart that isn’t fully “in the moment” (that is, I’m not even thinking about it, I’m just on autopilot) or has a hidden agenda of expectations from God instead of humble anticipation of His acceptance of my offer. When we are “in the moment” and our attitude is humble anticipation, imagine the joy we can receive when we know that our offer has been accepted!

Scripture teaches that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). That doesn’t mean He loves the giver who is a cheerful person. That means he loves it when we give with a cheerful attitude – and that means we are in the moment – purposefully thinking about what we’re doing and doing it cheerfully.

Lord, forgive me for all the times I have spent the offering time on Sunday morning reading the bulletin instead of making my offering to You in humility and joy. Forgive me for the times I write out my check out of obligation instead of with joyful anticipation of bringing joy to the One I love the most.

The Offering God Gave
Notice that it was in this same attitude that God gave His offering – with His whole heart and in humble anticipation of the joy to come when His offering would be accepted by men and women. That offering, of course, was His Son Jesus, whom God gave as the sacrificial lamb – the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Do you see that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament system of sacrifices and offerings? That He is our sacrificial lamb, offered once for all?

Unlike the other high priests, [Jesus] does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
                Hebrews 7:27 (NIV)

The question is “will you accept His offering?” It is an offering consistent with those we’ve read about in Leviticus, but of such a higher degree that it issues in a new covenant. The new covenant holds the promise of an eternal inheritance – life forever more – even for those who have not kept the old covenant.

The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance – now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
                Hebrews 9:13-15 (NIV)

Should you have any doubt, let me be clear. God is calling you. He is calling you to serve the living God. He is calling you in love.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
                1 John 4:9-10 (NIV)

Will you accept his offering? What will you offer back to him in response?