Sunday 14 Nov 2021

November 14: Hebrews 10:11-14
 
Key Verse: Hebrews 10:11
Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
 
Devotion:
Have you ever had to work out a punishment you were dealt with? I’m not talking about getting shouted at or grounded or others things our parent may have done, but something like hard labour or some other hard repetitive task! At boarding school we often used to get punished by having to do something horrible like cleaning out the showers – and no matter how long you had to do it or how many times you had to do it, nothing changed!
 
Once again, after the punishment had been served, we were back in our own little worlds where we were tempted to do something wrong... and get caught again... and so on! This is the futile environment God was trying to open our eyes to. When we break the rules and sin against Him, we have to face the consequences. Back in the days of the Old Testament, people had to offer sacrifices to cover their sins.
 
These sacrifices were not easy “I’m sorry, please forgive me” but having to find a suitable animal for the sins to be covered and then making sure it was taken to the temple at the right time and offered as a sacrifice in the right way. This would have cost a fair wage back then and would not be something you would want to do every week!
 
But Christ offered Himself to be the perfect sacrifice for all of our sins – to be offered once and on our behalf. We did not have to try and find the ultimate sacrifice because He found us. We did not have to pay for anything. We simply have to accept the truth He is our perfect sacrifice and ask Him to forgive us once and for all!
 
Points to Ponder:
How often did you repeat offend after being punished?
 
Have you accepted that Christ has paid fully for your sins?