THERE’S NO ESCAPING JUSTICE
But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Hebrews 9:26b-28 (NIV)
Have you ever tried to outrun your problems? Have you schemed and planned ways to avoid getting caught for something and facing the consequences? I certainly have. In high school, my brother and I were not doing well in some of our classes and knew that our report cards would reflect that. We were worried about what our dad would say and what our punishment would be for bad grades. In our infinite wisdom, we found a way to change the grades. My brother became good at erasing and reshaping grades on our report cards so we would come off better. It worked for a while, but eventually we were discovered. We were trying to make our consequences go away, but all we did was postpone the inevitable. The punishment was greater because of the lies.
It can be like this with God. We don’t want God to know the bad things that we’ve done, so we try to hide them. In a fruitless effort, we want to bury these things because we are ashamed of the sin that we have committed. The guilt and shame begin to eat at us, and we tend to dig ourselves deeper to try to hide. In the end, we cannot escape the judgment that is coming. The author of Hebrews says it perfectly that we’ll all die and face judgment. No ifs, ands, or buts, it will happen to all of us. Paul says the same in 2 Corinthians 5:10. However, the verses in Hebrews offer us hope in Jesus, who came to take away our sins by sacrificing Himself for us. This sustains us when we feel we need to hide.
APPLICATION: Is there anything that you are currently hiding or running from? Confess that to God and ask His forgiveness. If there are others you need to seek forgiveness from, pray and do so. Bringing these into the light is always better than hiding them in the dark.
PRAYER: Father, help me to remember that I can trust You with all of my burdens. There is nothing too great for You to forgive. Thank You for loving me enough to forgive me of my sins. Amen.
"… Our Father in heaven…" Matthew 6:9b (NLT)
• What do You want to say to me today as my Father?
"… may your name be kept holy." Matthew 6:9c (NLT)
• What do You want to reveal to me about Your power today?
"May your Kingdom come soon." Matthew 6:10a (NLT)
• Help me make Your priorities my priorities today.
"Give us today the food we need," Matthew 6:11 (NLT)
• Is there anything specific You want me to do with my time or the people I'm around today?
"and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us" Matthew 6:12 (NLT)
• Reveal to me anyone I need to forgive or ask for forgiveness.
"And don't let us yield to temptation…" Matthew 6:13a (NLT)
• Is there anywhere I'm vulnerable to temptation?