New Covenant
I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 25th of October, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of 2 Corinthians 5:17:
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
What a beautiful promise. Then we go straight to the Book of Hebrews 8:13:
"A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away."
Obsolete is old fashioned, it is no longer relevant, it is no longer valid like your passport when it runs out, you have to get a new one. You might as well throw the old one away because it is no longer valid. You cannot travel on a passport that is redundant. You and I cannot earn our way to Heaven by our own efforts. Jesus has paid in full - all our debt. All we have to do is to say thank You! That's very hard to comprehend, isn't it? Especially when you are from the old school. Some of us struggle with this free gift of eternal life. We always want to earn it or pay for it. Why? Probably because of pride. If I cannot pay for it, then I do not want it. Many of us, including myself, struggle to accept a gift from someone.
A couple of times, more than once, I have been sitting in a restaurant with my wife and my family, and we have just had a lovely meal. I call the waitress and ask if she could please bring us the bill because we want to pay for the meal, and she looks at us and says, "Your meal has already been paid for in full." Now, it is very humbling, but it is so special and so touching. You see, you can't even pay it back; You can't even say thank to the person who has paid for your meal because they have already left the restaurant and gone. That is what grace means. It means un-deserved, loving kindness. Now, that is exactly what the new covenant is all about. Father God has given us His Son, Jesus, who has paid in full for all our debts. What must we do? We must say, "Thank You, Lord," and go out and sin no more.
Have a beautiful day and remember, if Christ is for you, there is no man that will ever stand against you. (Romans 8:31).
Jesus bless you and goodbye.