Monday 11 Apr 2022

April 11: Hebrews 9:11-15

Key Verse: Hebrews 9:13
The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.

Devotion:
We live, work and worship in a very imperfect world, a world which continues to sin and breaks God’s laws time and time again. Is it the fault of the world? No! Is it the fault of God? No! It is because we listen to the evil one instead of listening to God. We may not realise we are doing so, but when we stop listening to God, we are listening to everything else around us, including the evil one!

The blood of goats and calves was used to make the people ceremonially clean so they would be able to continue moving forward with God instead of having to face their sins head-on and fail. The only problem with this is there are physical limitations to what signified a clean sacrifice; part of it being the hearts of the people offering the sacrifice as well as the hearts of the people carrying out the ceremonies!

When Jesus stepped forward to offer His own body and blood to be the sacrifice, He was doing this as a single step because He was offering a perfect Sacrifice without any blemishes; one God could never turn down! Because this was the perfect sacrifice, it went a lot further than the animal sacrifices previously offered because the hearts of the people who accept Christ to be their sacrifice know Jesus and are open to being cleansed of everything!

Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant, our advocate for the covenant being signed, sealed and delivered! The first covenant, the laws as described by Moses, and the sacrifices offered because of these laws, were always in a bit of a precarious position. However, Christ being the perfect sacrifice and conclusion of the new covenant, sets us free from any sins we have committed.

Points to Ponder:
How much are you willing to pay for a clean heart?

Will you accept Christ as your full payment for your clean heart?