9-24-22 Today in the Word

Growing Up Spiritually Saturday, September 24 | Hebrews 5:1–14 My friend Ann has marks in her kitchen doorway. They measure the changing heights of her children and grandchildren through the years. The names and dates next to the marks trace their progress. While we can’t measure our spiritual growth on a door frame, it is a lot like physical growth. It should increase with time, but that isn’t always the case. Some believers seem stunted in their spiritual development. The believers to whom the book of Hebrews was written are a case in point. In verse 12 the author complains that they should have been teachers by this time. Instead, they still needed someone to go over the spiritual ABCs. Their spiritual immaturity kept them from seeing important aspects of Christ’s ministry. For example, they needed to know that Jesus was both their sacrifice for sin and their High Priest (vv. 1–4). By taking on a human nature, He became “subject to weakness” (v. 2). Unlike the earthly priests of the Law of Moses, Jesus did not have to offer sacrifices for Himself. He was truly human, but sinless. Because Jesus shared the frailty of our humanity, He “became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (v. 9). The writer compares Jesus to the mysterious Old Testament figure Melchizedek, whose name meant King of Salem or King of Peace. He is mentioned in Genesis 14:18–20 and Psalm 110:4, where he seems to be a picture of the Messiah. The writer will say more about him in Hebrews 7, but here he merely whets their appetite and observes that their immaturity will make it hard for them to understand what he means. According to verse 11, their main problem was that they had stopped trying to understand. When the implications of what we hear make us uncomfortable, sometimes we stop listening. Pray with Us Some of us may be stagnating. We may have lost interest in spiritual things. We’re not growing anymore. Lord God, remind us who You are and what You have done. Reawaken our souls to the joy of knowing You.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

9-16-23 Santa Staleness

Santa Staleness :: By Edwin Tan Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles My one and only trip to Israel had more than a profound effect on my present-day psyche. It might have been three decades ago, but there is more than a lingering aftertaste. It happened smack in the last fortnight of the year. Surprisingly absent were the familiar sights and sounds of the Christmas most people are accustomed to. Hardly any Christmas decorations in downtown Tel Aviv, if not any of the shopping thoroughfares across the Holy Land. Hanukah was a breath of fresh air – not anything resembling a Christmas carol most people grew up with did surface. The Christmas Eve service in a small Protestant church not far away from Jerusalem’s Old City was awesome; songs that truly celebrated the virgin birth of our Lord, which though seemingly unheard of, were a welcome inspiration to many a soul. There was even one sung in Arabic! So it began, my overt disdain for the secular Christmas t...
Read more

9-25-23 The Farm Chronicles: One Christmas

The Farm Chronicles: One Christmas :: By Bill Wilson Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:Bill Wilson, General Articles There are a lot of terrible things going on right now in the world. But we are at the time of the year when we, as Christians, celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We can choose to be impacted by the world around us in its dimly lit arena, or we can choose to let our light so shine. I choose the latter. I want to tell you a little about the Christmas that I had growing up on our family farm in Ohio. I was blessed to be born into a horse and cattle farm that has been in our family for some 200 years. And Christmas, especially Christmas Eve, was a wonderful time for our family. December 24 was my Dad’s birthday. And my Dad was well-loved by his neighbors and friends, so we had a lot going on Christmas Eve. I remember one special Christmas Eve. I must have been about four years old. The night was falling, and the wind and snow were whipping across the barny...
Read more

9-15-23 Miracles 2

Miracles 2 :: By Jim Towers Published on: December 21, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles This story is a continuation of the exciting things God continues doing in my life. I was supposed to have died a while back, and sometimes I feel as though I may do so soon. But since I’m ready to meet my maker, I have no fear of death. In fact, my evangelistic zeal has only increased, especially as I see the fast approaching of the “Tribulation period” mentioned in the book of Revelation. Insofar as my acting career is concerned, I just finished filming a soliloquy featuring Melchior, one of the three Magi who followed the star to Christ lying in the manger, and am preparing to portray a Jewish Priest on stage. Like I said, God is working overtime in my life, and I will be appearing on stage singing Broadway show tunes sometime in March, so I have a lot of rehearsing to do. In the meantime, I will be signing Christmas carols acapella at a park here in Naples. Since it is a spontaneous th...
Read more