A Month of Thanksgiving: Day Five

Today and every day I am deeply thankful for the person and the work of Jesus Christ. This afternoon, my dear friends, Kim and Carol and I met for our weekly study of Hebrews and the passage that we looked at today is Hebrews 10:19-23. Its a summation of the first 9 1/2 chapters, the doctrinal part of the book of Hebrews, in which the author patiently lays out to the Hebrew Christians all the reasons to "hold unswervingly to the hope we profess," even and especially in the face of the awful persecution that they were facing and the temptation to renounce that hope and return to Judaism. Those reasons are just exactly who Christ is and what He has done for them and all believers. It is because of the obedience of the Son of God and His completed work that I can "draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith" because "He who promised is faithful."

John Brown, the commentator that I am using for this study puts it this way:

"The full and assured belief of that respecting which we have confidence--that Christ as our High Priest has bodily passed through these heavens into the heaven of heavens by His own blood, thereby proving the perfection of His atoning sacrifice, and the efficacy of His intercession; and thus securing that in due time we shall also enter in a similar way into the heavens; and that in heaven, whither He has entered as our Forerunner, He is a Great High Priest over the celestial temple, having everything connected with the acceptable worship of God committed to His management....It is the faith of the truth respecting the reality and efficacy of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and the hope that rises out of that faith, that enable us to draw near to Him, from whom, but for this faith and hope, had we just views of His holiness and justice and power, we would seek shelter, if possible, under rocks and mountains."

To share your thankfulness to God this month of November, visit Rebecca who is compiling the good gifts that God gives to each one of His children. What a blessing to read of the various ways that He does that!