"How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
Hebrews 9:14
As we bring in this new year let us set our perspectives, hearts, and minds on the Lord. Often as we reflect on the past year, we think about the ups and the downs. Perhaps this year brought the average person more downs than ups, given the pandemic and all the effects therein. Maybe as you reflect on this past year you may be one of those that is gleaming back with thoughts and feelings of regret. Asking yourself questions such as, 'could I have done better here', 'should I have checked in more with this person', 'could I have made better job or financial decisions', or ' should I have broken off that relationship'. With all that is going on in our world today, it is easy to look in hindsight, with feelings of guilt or regret; wishing some things we would have been done differently. The truth is we all make mistakes. We say things, do things, (or don't do things for that matter), act certain ways, neglect responsibilities, and make bad decisions. We ALL do these things. The reason being, because we all are born with a sin nature. We are born into sin, into an imperfect world. The writer of Hebrews in the ninth chapter is telling the readers of the solutions to our sin problem. By the time we read to the verse above, the writer is admonishing the reader, and encouraging them, in that we don't have to deal with sin with constant sacrifices like those in the Old Testament, but rather we are forever cleansed by the blood of Jesus, when we believe in Him, with faith, for our salvation. We are told that because of the work of Jesus Christ, our sin is dealt with once and for all. For those of us that claim the blood of Jesus for the salvation of our souls, we don't have to live in the bad decisions and actions of our past. We don't have to be weighed down by regrets or guilt of things we have done in the past week, month, or year. We don't have to be entangled in the trenches the guilt and shame our sin can take us. Rather, we can live in freedom, but not because of anything we do or did, but because of what He has done! The word says, that because "[Jesus], offered himself unblemished to God, [we can be] cleansed of our consciences from acts that lead to death." Because of what Jesus did for us, we are offered freedom in our consciences from the "acts that lead to death". What are those "acts that lead to death"? That is our sin! So what we are being told is that we can have freedom, not only in the sense of eternal salvation, but also in our consciences from our sin. We don't have to be weighed down in guilt, shame, and regret about our past! We have been cleansed in our consciences when we put our faith and trust in Christ! Amen, what a wonderful realization! But, we are also given the reason God gives us this freedom. "So that we may serve the living God". The Lord cleanses us of those things that lead to death, so that we may experience the peace, joy, and freedom, that only his grace, mercy, and love can deliver to us. Therefore, we are motivated to serve Him because of this grace so freely given to us. Today, realize that you can make a choice not to live in the regret, shame, and guilt of the past. Jesus came to offer you a free gift of eternal salvation. But, He also came to offer you freedom from your own conscience. He wants you to live an abundant life, filled with love, peace, and joy. And He wants you to accept this free gift of love and grace, so that you may serve Him, and carry the message to others. God loves you and wants you to have freedom in this new year! Will you trust Him, and give it ALL to Him? Love you all! Praying for you and yours! Have a blessed day, it's your choice!
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