Be the Change
Hebrews 10:8-10 “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them.” Then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
“That’s not how I’ve always done it,” I catch myself saying often these days. “I don’t think that will work. We’ve already tried that, and it bombed the last time. Why reinvent the wheel?” What are these sentences really saying? Quit trying to make me______ a different way. The blank may be filled in with read, write, speak, think, learn, behave, or worship. No matter what one puts in the blank, it denotes a resistance to change.
I was never going to be that person. When I listened to oldsters talk like that when I was young, I swore, like many of you, that I would never close my mind to new ideas. I guess that is the catch. Have I convinced myself that there are no new ideas? There is scripture to back up my point of view. Just look at Ecclesiastes 1:9 It says that there is nothing new under the sun. Am I taking that verse out of context? Does it matter? According to many, (not my clergy) whatever is written in the Bible needs no context. I’m not so sure.
You see, that’s what the Jewish priests thought, too. Before Jesus came along, they were the experts, and they knew what God expected His children to do.They knew all about making sacrifices to God - literally. They knew Jewish law and were convinced that God wanted things done a specific way, at a given time, by chosen people. They weren’t evil, but they eventually committed evil acts to keep the status quo. They did not embrace change. Of course, we know the rest of the story; we know that Jesus was all about change.
Right about now you’re wondering what this has to do with Advent. The word advent means the beginning. Christ’s birth began the Christian religion. Christ’s crucifixion began our salvation. Christ’s resurrection began life everlasting. Christ’s teachings tell me that I need to change my attitude, and I need to begin today.
What about you? Do you need to change your attitude? Offer it up to God. Replace it with love for others. Remember why Jesus was born.
Heavenly Father, our world is in turmoil, and Your people are struggling to hear Your voice. Help us to remember why Your son was born. Now, more than ever, we need to love one another. Surely that will be a change we all can embrace.
Amen
Becky Warren
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