Ezekiel 16:42-17:24; Hebrews 8:1-13; Psalm 106:13-31; Proverbs 27:7-9
Under the Old Covenant, all sin had to be paid for and once the price was paid, life went back to normal except, the person lived with the shame and stigma of having been punished. (Similar to going to prison and then being released.)
God told Israel that after they had stayed in exile long enough, He would bring them back home and restore them and other nations who had broken His laws. Yet, when they came back, they would still remember with regret all the bad decisions they made which caused them to go into exile. Though everything would be restored, they would always remember what they had lost because of their rebellion.
Thank God for the New Covenant. In this New Covenant, Jesus paid the price for our wrongdoing and suffered all the humiliation and shame so we would not have to. This is what grace is all about! Grace means getting what we don’t deserve! We deserved to die for our sins and forever be remembered as sinners but God loved us enough to make us righteous through someone else’s sacrifice. We don’t deserve righteousness and it cannot be earned. It is received. Receive God’s righteousness and know that you are a beloved child of God fully accepted by the Father.
Tomorrow’s Reading: Ezekiel 18:1-19:14; Hebrews 9:1-10; Psalm 106:32-48; Proverbs 27:10