THE BOOK OF HEBREWS
Hebrews |ˈhēbro͞oz| a book of the New Testament, traditionally included among the letters of St. Paul but now generally held to be non-Pauline.
The book of Hebrews is written anonymously to Christians converted from Judaism, so there are a lot of references to the Old Testament laws and the religious institutions of Moses. But if you want to know who Jesus is and why He came to the earth—this is a great book to read.
“Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God.” Hebrews 1:1-3
The book of Hebrews explains that because Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, we have unrestricted access to God. We can now have a relationship with God because there is nothing standing between us—no sin, no mistake, nothing. His grace gives us the power to overcome every problem we face in life so we can discover our purpose through knowing Him.
“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” Hebrews 4:16
It can be hard to accept a grace like that. We know we are sinners and we know we aren’t perfect—so accepting a love and grace like this isn’t always easy. Often times, we want to earn it. We want to be good and to deserve it. But the truth is, we never will.
“We can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place… Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:19-22
This book is written for every believer today because no matter what our formal belief was, we have all decided to follow Jesus and to accept the free gift of grace that God has offered to us. The name Hebrews means “those who have crossed over.” We have all crossed over from darkness to light. We’ve crossed over from doubt to faith. And now we get to continually live out this faith—daily accepting the grace God gives to those who have accepted His Son’s sacrifice for them!
My prayer for you today comes from Hebrews Chapter 12:1-2, “Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” Amen!
XO-
Sabrina