First Reason of Superiority: It is Heavenly (Heb. 9:11)

                                                     SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 04-18-03

 

                                                                                                           

My Worship Time                  Focus:  1^st reason of superiority:  It is heavenly

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Hebrews 9:11

 

            Message of the verse:  “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;” (NASB) “So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come.  He has entered that great, perfect sanctuary in heaven, not made by human hands and not part of this created world.”  (NLT)

This starts a new section in this chapter that speaks to five reasons why the New Covenant is Superior. The first reason and the one from today’s study is that the New Covenant is superior because it is a heavenly covenant.  The writer before has made this point that is in this verse about Christ being High Priest and also Him serving in a tabernacle that is not made with hands.  I believe that he wants to drive this point across to his readers to show them that what they have now is better than what some of them are thinking of going back to, and that is the bondage of the Old Covenant.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I think of the original readers of this letter wanting to go back into the things of the OT laws I can’t help but think of a couple of things that apply to my life today.  The saying “you don’t know what you got until it is gone” is a saying that could apply to this letter and also it applies to my life at times.  It means that one is not satisfied with his present circumstances and wants a change only to find out that what he had before was better.  These people the writer wrote this to were a part of the old covenant and once they became believers they were a part of the new covenant, which is better than the old covenant, but not wanted to go back to the old covenant not knowing or at least not realizing that the new covenant is far superior.  The second thing I can learn from this section is that it is hard to change, and one of the reasons it is hard to change is that when you become used to something even if what you are moving on to is better you can still want to return to the old because it is more comfortable.  I think of the children of Israel who came out of the bandage of Egypt wanting to return to that bondage, which when you think about it does not make much sense.  The point of all of this is I must trust the Lord to direct me into the change that He wants me to go through and not cling to the old when He is moving me to something new.

 

The Word of God has given me some food for thought to think about as I studied it today.

 

My Steps of Faith today:  To trust the Lord with our financial situation as there is some things that are going on now that could bring about some change, but I must trust Him to work out His perfect plan, and I must continue to pray about this situation so He can work in my heart to prepare me for any change that could take place or to stay the same, which would be an answer that would be fine too if that is what He wants. 

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 40:9, 10

 

9.      I have proclaimed glade tidings of righteousness in the great congregation; Behold, I will not retrain my lips, O LORD, Thou knowest.

10.  I have not hidden Thy righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation; I have not concealed Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth from the great congregation.