Father, as I come before you this evening, I ask that You direct my heart and mind so that words given to me – by You – might be shared having the greatest impact possible. Amen.

Hebrews 2:14-18 (<<click here to read the passage)

I’ve sat here now for 40 minutes mulling these verses over in my mind. (Make that 50 minutes…) (OK, an hour) I stopped at verse 15, getting stuck on the concept that Your death, Lord, was the only way we could be free from our slavery to the fear of dying. I kept thinking that Your sacrifice sets us free from sin. So finally I read through three more verses – and it clicked. And when it clicked, Romans 6:23 popped into my head and it became even clearer.

The verse from Romans brought it to focus for me. “For the wages of sin is death…” Because of our own choices (sin), we brought upon ourselves the penalty for those choices – death. And we were “slaves to the fear of dying.” It was a slippery slope with no hope. Once we started to fall there was nothing we could do to stop ourselves – nothing to grab hold of – nothing to even slow ourselves down – death was inevitable!

But You…You had a plan – and nothing would stop You! The penalty for our sin was death and that penalty had to be paid. So You took it upon Yourself to pay it – not just mine, or a few or select number but everyone’s penalty – incomprehensible! So when the time was right You did what needed doing. Since we are “made of flesh and blood” You “became flesh and blood” for that was the only way You could die and Your death was the only way to “break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.”

The devil didn’t even know what hit him – You were victorious! Your plan was the best plan and because You were victorious we can be! You reached down and snatched us right off of that slippery slope and put our feet on solid ground! We have nothing to fear – death…is…defeated! Praise Your holy name!

Thank You, Lord, for letting me struggle. It took me a while, but it was worth it. I usually bite off a small portion of Your Word to chew on. I savor it, I mull it over. I want to get everything out that I possibly can of what You have for me but this time I needed just a little bit bigger bite and everything came into place!

(Feb 23rd, 2016, Tues, 5:21 am)
Mar 7th, 2023, Tue, 6:56 pm