It is an assumption of Scripture that when we come to know Jesus, our entire life would be immersed in Him and His way. Why? ‘Because it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us, and the life we now live, we live by faith.’ Life then, is not a place we are in, it is not a place we are going. Life is found within the King and Creator of life–Jesus!

How is Jesus the only one able to remove complete condemnation from those who trust in Him? The Hebrews author lifts up Jesus as the only perfect High Priest who lives forever, intercedes for us always, and gave Himself to atone for our sins. Jesus’ person and work is completely sufficient to save his followers without any boundary or limit.

All of us are building our hope on something, whether on the sand or the rock. We build our hope on sand when we trust in our circumstances to hold us up. But when we build our hope on Jesus, we find ourselves on a rock that is able endure any storm that inevitably comes our way.

In our sin, we could never make ourselves righteous before God through the Levitical Priesthood or the law that governs it. We, therefore, need One who is superior and separate by being a better High Priest and the fulfillment of the law on our behalf. Jesus is the one to whom we can trust alone as our true High Priest and eternal righteousness through His indestructible life.

God encourages us through the prophet Jeremiah to call out to God, for He “will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” May we be a people who seek to know, love, and share the Word of God–recognizing that these very words are the key to life, light, and freedom for the people of God.

It’s easy to forget all that our good and generous God has given us. We can be tempted to believe we are owners rather than stewards. When we think we own our “stuff”, it can actually start to own us. Just as Abraham was moved to respond to Melchizedek’s greatness with generosity, how much more should we, as followers of Jesus, respond to His greatness with open-handed generosity?

True peace comes from knowing God’s abundant generosity toward us in Christ so that we can live in right relationship with God and others.

God’s unwavering commitment to His covenant is the ground of our hope. Hope for believers is faith patiently practiced as we recognize our anchor, Jesus, is secured forever within the veil.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to walk as Jesus walked. Through the Holy Spirit, we can bring freedom where there is bondage, justice where there is injustice, and mercy where there is suffering. These things will rarely be easy. But we have found that in light of eternity, not engaging in these things is always worse than choosing to step into the hard things around us.

The author of Hebrews uses this passage to encourage his readers towards a deeper assurance of their salvation. He does this, not so that they would doubt, but that they instead may strengthen their roots in the gospel and be spurred on towards increasing hope.