Obedience

Jesus has covered our sins through his sacrifice, but that is not the ideal. Yes, we are forgiven, but it is not the sacrifice that God wants from us. He wants us to obey, and he wants us to understand that living right is more important that making up for our sins and shortcomings. Jesus died and we are forgiven, but the intensity of Jesus' death tells us something about sin. There is a cost, and that price has been paid. Despite that, God wants us to live for him. He wants us to love him and obey him, and he doesn't want us to sin. "I don't want you to sin, but because you have the cost has been paid. Now please, don't continue. I've forgiven you, but that doesn't change the fact that there is sin in your life and I want you to stop."

We must be sure not to take advantage of the forgiveness God has given us.

"Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: 'Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, 'Here I am- it is written about me in the scroll - I have come to do your will, O God.'" Hebrews 10:5-7

For hundreds of years

For hundreds of years priests offered sacrifices in the temple. There were very specific guidelines to what they did, but that was not eternal. We no longer depend on a priest to offer sacrifices for our sins. Rather, our sins have already been covered by the sacrifice made by Jesus. Jesus is our "high priest." In Hebrews 8:5 we find "They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven." Offering animals as sacrifices is just an image for us. Christ, though, that is greater. It is more than the imagery of the temple. Christ has offered and been offered for us, that we might find salvation.

Anchored

The Bible is full of warnings against unfaithfulness. I think sometimes we confuse warnings of unfaithfulness with warning of unbelief. Yes, we believe in God, but do we have faith in him? Do we actually trust him to work things out, even when things seem to be falling apart? What must "God's chosen people" have thought when he brought them out of slavery in Egypt to a dry and desolate desert. "Is this really God's plan? For life to suck? This is stupid. Where is the promised land? Where is the land flowing with milk and honey that we were supposed to get?"

It is interesting that our own personal unfaithfulness is sometimes compared to God's faithfulness. We are able to find strength in remembering that God is faithful, even though we are not. We go our own way, and we burn ourselves and it hurts. Despite that, God is faithful. God is better than we are. He keeps his promises, and there is encouragement to be had in that. Our faith is anchored to God, which is fortunate! If it were anchored to a human being it wouldn't hold us. It would get tossed about and we'd find ourselves forever dissapointed.

"Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."
Hebrews 6:16-19

Christ an example

Jesus is our "high priest." He was born. He lived. He was tempted. He went through life just like we do. He went through times of suffering just like all of us do. He learned obedience and became the source of our salvation. Jesus stands as a mediator between us a God. Just like any priest, he plays the inbetween-man for men and God. Jesus is special, though. He was man, but he was also God. He was a high priest. Of all the high priests, there was none so high as Jesus. He was the only inbetween-man that was fully in contact with God. He was divine, and a part of God. He had elements that no priest has.
We are able to go to Christ, and rather than going to a man that will communicate to God on our behalf, we are able to go right to God. How awesome is that? To have the ability to be in direct communication with God? That is significant.
"Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest..." Hebrews 5:8-10

Rest

In the past God lead his people out of Egypt. They wandered through the desert for 40 years, and endured a great time of suffering. Why? It was because of their disobedience. God had chosen his people and he had saved them from the hands of the Egyptians, but they made the choice to disobey him. In doing so, they didn't find the rest that God had intended for them. What could have been a very short move from Egypt to the promised land ended up being a 40 year ordeal. It took faith to remain obedient to God while they were in the desert, but it was worth it.

We know that the rest God intends for his people is wonderful, but for some reason we harden ourselves to God. We find ourselves in the desert. We grow accustomed to living in a wilderness outside of God's rest. It becomes easy to doubt, and it becomes easy to adjust and compensate rather than to pray and hope. "Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience." Hebrews 4:11

Fixing our thoughts

It is important for us to fix our thoughts on Jesus. Our mind is the control room for our actions. Whatever we fix our thoughts on will directly influence how we act out our lives. If we fix our lives on a goal, we're able to let that goal consume us. We're able to fill our minds with a plethora of different things, and the things that we fill our minds with shape who we are and what we do. Hebrews 3:1 says to: "Fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess."

Drifting

It seems like no one wakes up one day and decides to turn away from God. You don't just make a conscious decision and then turn your back on him. Rather, it is more like a drifting. You float about in the water and might at first be very near to God. Perhaps the miraculous workings of God's hand in your life are still very fresh and real. Perhaps you are gazing in awe at how incredible God is, but then something happens. Or rather, nothing happens. The current catches you in the water and pulls you slowly out to see. Its not a sudden tug, but a gentle drifting. God stops revealing himself in blatantly obvious ways.

What do we do when God leaves us to walk by faith? Those times come for everyone. God stops drawing us in with fireworks and lights, and we're left to remember and to hope. Remember what God did to draw us near to him, and find rest in the hope that he is ever present even when the shadows of this world seem to hide him from our direct line of sight.

We must be careful not to drift away. For some reason it is easy to turn the things of God into the mundane and boring. Without realizing it, we look away and we forget. We fail to remember, and we fail to hope. And then suddenly we open our eyes and realize that God is nowhere to be seen. Did we lose him? Did he lose us? No. He's still there waiting, but now we're off at sea somewhere. What are we to do in those moments? What do we do when God's signs to us grow distant and blurred?

Sometimes we let ourselves drift out too far, and maybe it seems like we've strayed too far away to ever regain that closeness to God. Don't worry. He is still there. He stands firm like a rock amidst stormy waters, and no matter how far out we seem to drift God is still about us, longing to take us in and offer us his protection. God has given us salvation through Jesus, and we must pay attention to where we are at. We must make a conscious effort not to forget it, lest we find ourselves out at sea having drifted away from the place we once were.

"We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will." Hebrews 2:1-4