Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed pure with water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another-and all the more as you see the day approaching. Hebrews 10:19-25 NIV
Have you ever heard the Easter story, the story in the Bible about how Jesus Christ was falsely accused, arrested, beaten, mocked, crucified, died and was resurrected? If you heard this story, then hopefully you heard how He did all this in order that He might save us from our sins. Hopefully you heard that if you believe in Him and accept Him as your savior, that you can have eternal life in heaven with God the Father. So, if you didn’t know all this already, then hopefully you heard this at some point. Now the question for today is what are you going to do with this information?
You have so many choices. God gave us free will, so we can do whatever we want to do. You can totally ignore this information. You can take this information in and perhaps decide to study it a bit more in your Bible. You may question the validity of this information. If you question the validity of this information then I suggest that you read the book the Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. He wrote a book, did a documentary, and there was a movie made. He questioned the validity of the Easter story and did a very thorough investigation and could not disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He really wanted to, but just couldn’t do it. Now perhaps you believe this story but you just choose not to really do anything with it. Well, when I am contemplating what to do with information or in any other area of my life, I have learned the hard way that the smartest way to handle it is to pray to God and read my Bible. I have learned that if i live according to the Bible that things go much smoother for me and I have a great deal more peace and joy in my life. I have learned that God will gently guide me when I am unsure about how to handle any type of situation. Also, you can bet that the Bible has the answer to any question or life situation that you may face.
So if we look at today’s scripture passage, it is pretty clear on what we should do with the information of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. It begins by telling us that we have this confidence now of being able to enter the Most Holy Place. In the Old Testament days, only the priest could go into this sacred place in the temple. It was so sacred, that the priest wore a long cord on his robe with a bell on it because if he died while he was in there, no one could go in and get him. They would have to pull him out. He would go in there to make atonement for the sins of the people. However, when Jesus was crucified that heavy curtain was torn (Luke 23:45) and we were given the ability to go straight to Jesus ourselves and repent and ask forgiveness. So knowing this, we are instructed to draw near to God in faith and be cleansed. We can have our guilty consciences removed. We are to remain strong and steadfast in the hope that we have found in Christ. We know that God is faithful to keep his promises even if it means sending his son to die for our sins (1 John 1:9, John 3:16). Last but not least, we are instructed to encourage each other to show love and do good deeds. We are encouraged to go to church and gather with fellow believers so that we may offer encouragement to each other as the day of the Lord’s return approaches.
In Deuteronomy 28, the Bible is very clear that we will suffer curses for disobedience and blessings for obedience, so I have learned to choose to do my dead level best to be obedient. Of course sometimes I fall short on this and have to repent, but none of us are perfect (Romans 3:23). But as for me I choose to try to live according to the instructions in God’s word. I still study God’s word and each week I am amazed at the things that I learn.
So today, I encourage you to decide if you want chaos and turmoil or peace and joy. I mean that’s really what it all boils down to. If we choose a life with Christ, things will go wrong in our lives that’s for sure, but we will be able to maintain that unshakeable peace that passes all understanding. Without God every little thing that goes wrong has the potential to turn into some type of disaster. So, the choice is yours. I hope for your sake that you choose wisely!
Have a great day!