Read: Hebrews 8
Every book of the Bible reveals God’s heart and
passion: to be in intimate relationship with His people. Hebrews is no
different, and this chapter exposes it again.
First, the fact that God gave us a High Priest
who could forgive us of our sin points to the truth of His desire to bridge the
gap between us and restore our broken relationship. Secondly, God set up a
covenant with the Israelites and then had a Tabernacle built among them because
He wanted to live with them and be part of their lives. He wanted an active and
up-close-and-personal relationship with them. The third piece of evidence that
God truly longs for intimacy with us, and that He’ll go to great lengths to
achieve it, is found in the new covenant.
In this new covenant God doesn’t just want a
‘house’ among all the other houses. He says in verse 10 that His home will be
right inside them. He doesn’t want to be side-lined or brushed aside. God is
serious about going to great lengths to be in a close and intimate relationship
with us. Everything He does is because he loves us so much.
However, God isn’t a weakling who is so desperate
for love and relationship that He allows us to walk all over Him. He wants a
healthy, free-will love relationship with us. This is why He wants to be sure
we understand that He will not put up with or ignore our sinful actions against
Him. He wants relationship not
dictatorship!
We must be careful to understand that God has
gone to great lengths to shower His love over us and draw us into relationship
with Him. The Bible says in James 4:8, “Draw near to
God, and he will draw near to you.”
However, we cannot buy the lie that God will always forgive us. Yes…
it is true … He always will forgive if we have repentant hearts! He has gone
over and above what we can imagine in order to offer that forgiveness and
relationship. The cost to Him was not cheap. This is why He offers it to us. He
doesn’t force it on us. He paid the most exorbitant price and then holds it out
to us. But when we dishonor His gift, and when we continue in our sin without
remorse or repentance, the offer still stands, but the gift is withheld.
Hebrews 8 makes it clear God’s covenant
with the Israelites, and now also with us, is just that – a covenant. A
covenant is a promise two parties make with each other. Both sides have a
promise to keep, or a job to fulfill. If one side does not keep their side of
the covenant, the covenant is broken. God is always faithful to keep His
covenant. It’s people who fail it. The day is coming, though, when we will
dwell with Him in perfect unity without the ability to break the covenant we
have chosen to enter into with Him. Our choice will have been made in this
lifetime and He will honor that in eternity! What a glorious thought!
Journaling and Prayer
1.
Ask the Lord if there is anything in your heart or life getting in your
way of living in an intimate relationship with Him. If there is, confess it,
and commit to living in His will in this area with His help from now on. If
there are habitual issues you sense God is bringing up in your mind, make a
commitment to take all the steps He shows you and that you know of, to make a
plan to live with a repentant heart. (Personal ministry, accountability,
cutting off the things that trigger this, etc.) Ask Him to speak to your heart
about the sincerity of your repentance and His willingness to forgive you again
and again and again.
2.
Spend a few minutes thanking God for wanting a relationship with you
instead of forcing you to simply obey a set of rules.
3.
Ask the Lord to speak to you about how much He loves you and wants a
relationship with you. Ask Him for a word, thought, or picture that will settle
this deep into your heart. Ask Him to bring this to mind when you are tempted
to break the relationship by sinning and to give you grace to choose Him in the
moment.
