The Lord Jesus—Our Anchor of Hope!
Questions to Ponder on this new day:
Can we draw nearer to God today than we walked yesterday?
Can we walk more faithfully with God and less unfaithfully than we did in our past days?
Are we willing to draw closer to our Father?
Are we seeking Him—REALLY, REALLY striving to know God MORE?
“Then to Adam He said,
(Genesis 3: 17-19 NASB)
[Almighty God speaks directly to the first man He created, confronting him because of his sin.]
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;
Cursed is the ground because of you;
With hard labor you shall eat from it
All the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it
shall grow for you;
Yet you shall eat the
plants of the field;
By the sweat of your face
You shall eat bread,
Until you return to the ground,
Because from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”
SIN creeps in quickly.
One solitary action—taken—and we have committed SIN!
Then in three verses, we read the consequences of our SIN—a lifetime of toil because of our momentary, single action—SIN!
- When Adam was walking within Paradise, he turned away from God for just a solitary moment and turned toward the lust of his heart—That’s when Adam encountered sin, there in that moment of taking his eyes off God.
- When Abraham was waiting for God’s promised son, the child who would make him the Father of the Nations, he turned away from God’s plan for His gift of a son and took it upon himself to gain a son—That’s when Abraham encountered sin, there in that moment of taking his eyes off God’s plan for his life.
- When Noah entered the Ark and when God shut the door, Noah knew God’s plan. When Noah was given leave of the Ark by God and then when he was given the rainbow as a covenant promise, Noah then became a tiller of the ground and a vineyard grower. He took it upon himself to partake of the fruit of his vines, too much so—That’s when Noah encountered sin, there in the moment of taking his eyes off God and placing them on his own bounty.
The Bible is filled with imperfect people!
The Bible is filled with imperfect people used by a Most Holy God!
The world in which we live is filled with imperfect people, and if we ever forget, then just look in the mirror and be reminded.
The world today is filled with imperfect people used by a Most Holy God!
Today, may we (in our total imperfection) be the people used by a Most Holy God!
Today is Ash Wednesday.
This is the day when we place our eyes upon our own sinfulness, a day when we recall the way we stand in total opposition to a Most Holy God!
- God help us see our sinfulness & Your Holiness.
- God help us in our imperfect state where we reside.
- God help us remain ever-thankful, yes, ever-so thankful for the mercy and grace provided by Your Son Jesus—Who is the only Way!
- God help us keep our eyes upon You as we walk through today. &
- God help us walk worthy of You, in obedience to You & away from our sinful state.
Tomorrow is the first day of Lent.
Maybe you celebrate the Lenten season and maybe you do not, but this I know to be true—Whether we celebrate or not, this day (Ash Wednesday) and this season (Lent) both lead us in our march toward our celebration of (Easter Sunday) Resurrection Sunday—the day Jesus overcame death for you and me!
Truly, we are quite “dusty” people.
But beginning today, can we draw nearer to God today than we walked yesterday? &
Starting on this solitary day, can we walk more faithfully with God and less unfaithfully than we did in our past days?
I wonder: Am I willing to draw closer to our Father? &
Am I seeking Him—REALLY, REALLY striving to know God MORE today than yesterday?
It is a truth; I should only look in the mirror at me.
&
It is also true; You should only look in the mirror at you.
Christian artist Danny Gokey sings a melody “New Day,” and within this song, we see this lyric:
Wake up and breathing deeper than yesterday.
Take on the morning like your soul’s been remade.
Roll down the window.
Let your cares fly away.
Good things are yours to claim.
You don’t have to wait. . . .
This is a new day!
Everything busting with hope—coming ALIVE this moment.
You got a freedom.
No looking back anymore.
Open your eyes—It’s coming!
This is a new day!
The others gone away . . .
Don’t let it slip away! . . .”
“New Day,”
The unnamed writer of Hebrews reminds us how we are to remain as we walk through this day.
Together, let us be reminded.
“And we desire that each one of you demonstrate the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end,
(Hebrews 6: 11-12 NASB)
so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and endurance inherit the promises. . . .”
“In the same way God, desiring even more to demonstrate to the heirs of the promise the fact that His purpose is unchangeable, confirmed it with an oath,
(Hebrews 6: 17-20 NASB)
so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge who have strong encouragement to hold firmly to the hope set before us.
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and reliable and one which enters within the veil,
where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
The Lord Jesus—Our Anchor of Hope!
Let us pause on this day and sing a most beautiful song of thankfulness to our King Jesus.
Lord, we know we can trust You for You died upon the cross.
For the blood You shed.
But Lord Jesus, we know you arose again & that You came for us.
“I was a wretch; I remember who I was.
I was lost; I was blind; I was running out of time.
Sin separated; the breach was far too wide.
But from the far side of the chasm, You had me in Your sight.
So You made a way across the great divide.
Left behind Heaven’s throne to build it here inside.
And there at the cross, You paid the debt I owed.
Broke the chains, freed my soul.
For the first time, I had hope!
Thank—You—Jesus for the blood applied!
Thank—You—Jesus it has washed me white!
Thank—You—Jesus—You have saved my life!
You brought me from the darkness into glorious light!
YOU brought me from the darkness into [YOUR] glorious light!”
“Thank You Jesus For the Blood” by Charity Gayle