Text: “Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, Today
if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in
the day of temptation in the wilderness; when your fathers tempted (provoked)
Me, proved (tested) Me, and saw My works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation,
and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known My
ways. So I sware in My wrath, They shall
not enter into My rest.”
Hebrews 3:7-11.
Good morning, prioritized Christian! Having been saved by God’s free grace, you
have become a willing bond-slave of King Jesus.
Having got this Eternal priority right - you now seek to prudently
prioritize your life in service to your Sovereign Lord. You do well, wise Christian, you do very
well, beloved friend. Thank God for
clear priorities in our Christian lives!
“But seek ye FIRST the Kingdom of God
So many today in the Western World - nations that have had the
glorious Gospel of Salvation through Jesus Christ open to us for hundreds of
years - have taken God’s offer of Eternal life for granted; spurned His
gracious offer; and gone off in the way of the world, the flesh, and the
Devil. How tragic!
Yet, as we see in today’s selected Bible reading, the Spirit of
God is still patiently crying out to sinners from God’s Word, “The hour is
come…”
“Today IF you will hear His voice, harden not your heart,
as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness…” (Psalm 95:7-8)
At the time in question, Christ Jesus was openly informing His
disciples, and all that would hear, that He was about to be offered up as a
Sacrifice to pay for the sins of ‘His people…’
He was about to be arrested; cruelly scourged; nailed to a Roman Cross;
hung up and horribly Crucified for us.
His most important hour in all Eternity was come. The most vital hour in all of the history of
mankind’s creation was at hand. God was
about to open the way to Heaven for repentant sinners, thus glorifying His Son,
Christ Jesus, as the only way of Salvation.
Wow! What an hour that would
be! Hallelujah!
“Neither is there Salvation in any other; for there is none other
name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
“And she (Mary) shall bring forth a Son, and thou (Joseph) shalt
call His Name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
In that Eternally definitive hour, Christ Jesus suffered and died
on the Cross to redeem the precious souls of all that God His Father had given
Him.
“All that the Father giveth (gave, gives, and continues to give)
Me shall come to Me, and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast
out.” (John 6:37)
We have our Eternal priorities correct when we hear God’s call to
repentance; come to Jesus; and receive His promised Salvation. That’s a fact of faith.
Like the ‘…corn of wheat…’ that was sowed into the ground - Christ
Jesus tasted death for all of us who would heed the Gospel call and present
ourselves in submission at His nail-pierced feet. Christ, since that eventful hour, has most
certainly brought ‘…forth much fruit…’ for His Kingdom.
However, having got that Eternal priority correct, we who are
saved by Christ must now prioritize our lives in service to Him.
By seeking to militantly serve the risen Jesus, and be like Him,
we necessarily ‘…lose…’ many other characteristics of our natural lives. We deny our own fleshy tendencies; we desist
from joining the world in many activities; we resist the Devil so that, for a
season at least, he flees from us. In
this sense we, ’…hateth our lives in this world yet keep them unto life
Eternal… (V.25)
Self-denial is a major priority in every sincere Christians’ daily
life. Is it yours?
Verse 26 of our Bible passage informs us of our necessity to
‘…follow Him…’; and to continually seek to be in close fellowship with Christ
Jesus.
Let us ask ourselves then, do we delight to serve Christ? Do we continually seek to be in close
fellowship with Him in prayer? The hour
is come…to evaluate our priorities and recommit our ways unto Christ. Let’s do it now!
Thought: Put Jesus as FIRST
priority - all else necessary will fall into place. (2 Chronicles 7:14-15)
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