November 8

Ezekiel 18:1-19:14, Hebrews 9:1-10, Psalm 106:32-48, Proverbs 27:10

Pray: Lord, the world has become more frail, people are more fearful than ever at the thought of evil being unleashed upon crowds of innocent people in public places and even in the sacred house of worship. However, we take great hope that You are a God of justice and no evil deed will go unpunished, no act of betrayal will go unnoticed. This is why we too claim, seek not Your justice oh God, but we ask for Your grace. We too ask that You forgive our sins, prepare our hearts to hear Your will so we might live it today.

Read: The writer of Ezekiel is clear that the sins of parents will not be passed down to the children by way of them having to pay for their parents' sins. The parents will have to pay for their own sins. This is just, this is fair. God desires that we be set free from our sins, but if we fail to repent, if we refuse His mercy then what choice does God have but to leave us in our rebellion and our darkness. Let us seek to accept His invitation to walk in the light with Him.

Edify: The audience hearing this Hebrew letter read aloud would have understood the Old Covenant being restated by the writer. The High Priest would only be allowed to go behind the Holy of Holies. Yet, Jesus tore down that wall of separation when He breathed His last saying, “it is finished”. In other words, the sin debts of the world have been paid in full. Perhaps we should live more like free men and women. Free to serve, free to love our neighbor and free to invite others to partake of this relationship we can have with the High Priest, Jesus.

Practice: The wisdom of Solomon comes shining through in these few verses as we are not to “abandon a friend”. If we add value to the lives of our neighbors, those we work with, and others around us then when we find ourselves in need we will not have to ask for help—they will be ready to help those whom have invested in them all along. Folks, we can’t out-love God, we can’t out-serve God and we can’t out-give God. But, we can be absolutely amazed by God’s reciprocity.