(our theme for November)

We live in a world that is constantly being shaken. World conditions and events seem to be shaking the core of our society and threaten to tear apart all the things we know and hold dear. It is easy in this world to be discouraged and disillusioned, and wonder where God is and why He doesn't do something.

The book of Hebrews was written to a group of early Christian believers of Jewish descent who felt much the same way. It was most likely written in the late first century, and these believers were a generation removed from Jesus' earthly ministry, Facing intense persecution, many of them were discouraged and disillusioned with their new faith and were thinking of returning to the Judaism off their forefathers.

Hebrews is not an argument against Judaism. The writer of the book uses history and logical argument to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of Judaism and is superior to anything they might go back to. Jesus is superior to angels, priests, and sacrifices. Jesus is the embodiment of God's word, he is our hope for new life, he is the perfect priest, and he is the perfect sacrifice.

Chapter 12 is sort of the author's closing argument. In it he urges his audience, and by extension, us, to persevere through hard times and not grow weak. God can and does use hard times to discipline us and bring us closer to Him.

Hard times shake out things, and leave things that cannot be shaken. Because of Jesus' perfect sacrifice, we are citizens of a kingdom that cannot be shaken, no matter how hard the times, because it is the kingdom of God. It is not something that is to come - we are in that kingdom now.

Our reaction to that is first to be grateful. We should receive God's gift with our greatest gratitude. We are also to offer to God "acceptable worship." The word "worship" in this verse is used in other places in the bible to mean "serve," or "minister." I take this to mean that our gratitude should overflow our hearts and compel us to serve God by serving those He loves. Finally we should do all this with a sense of reverence and awe, always conscious of God's presence and power.

Father, thank you for providing the perfect way to be restored to relationship with you. Thank you for a place in your kingdom. May we never forget that the love we feel for you and the gratefulness we have for your gift should compel us to serve all those we meet, with the love that comes to us from you, in your power, not ours. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Cliff McCartney.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.