Short Thoughts for Today

So much can be taken from today's passage of scripture out of Hebrews chapter five. In verse thirteen we read, "For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe." I will endeavor to keep today's short thoughts brief.

There is much to rejoice about when someone is brought to faith in Christ by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Yes, it is good to be a babe in Christ! But we must acknowledge that remaining a babe is not consistent with the will of-God. As we saw in yesterday's passage, sufficient time had passed since learning the elementary truths of the faith, that they should have been teachers of what they knew. There should have been a maturation process whereby God could use them to teach others. But this had not happened, and consequently those who should now be teachers had the need to be taught again themselves the elementary principles.

Oh, how we ought to long to be "accustomed to the word of righteousness". Not for knowledge sake, but for the sake of knowing the Savior more intimately. I'm mindful of the Apostle Paul's purpose statement in Philippians chapter 3 which includes, "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection". As we grow in our faith in Christ, the milk of the word nourishes us and as we mature through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, prepares us to partake of solid food, the more weighty truths of the word if you will.

The pure milk of the word and the solid food of the word are each important and are intended to work together. The milk prepares us for the solid food and the solid food is dependent upon the nourishment and growth that has come from the milk. By His mercy and grace let us seek to grow in Christ and not remain babes, well past the time of our infancy. This will be well pleasing to Him.

Short Thoughts for Today

In yesterday's short thoughts I commented on the Hebrew writer's indictment against them in regards to their having "become dull of hearing". In Hebrews 5:12 the author continues by stating, "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food."

One of the things I had not commented on yesterday was the writer's assertion that the recipients of the letter had "become" dull of hearing. It seems that there had been a time when their "hearing" had been better. When we look at today's passage it seems clear that they had once had an understanding of the foundational truths of the faith. And clearly, sufficient time had passed where God had inspired the writer to say that they "ought to be teachers" now.

It is worth noting that since they had not matured in their faith, there existed the need to be taught again the "elementary principles". How quickly one can drift away from the fundamental truths of the faith when we fail to grow in Christ. We read in Paul's letter to the Ephesian believers that we are "to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ". Our sanctification is the will of God.

We should see the great importance of the many scriptural admonitions we have to this end. To pray without ceasing, to accurately handle the word of truth, to not forsake the assembly of ourselves together, to be renewing our minds, to be setting our mind on things above, to fix our eyes on Jesus, etc.. Without these disciplines the believer will struggle with maturing and find him or herself "needing milk and not solid food".

Short Thoughts for Today

As I continue "blogging" through the book of Hebrews, today's short thoughts will come from chapter five, verses 1 0-11. Verse 10 is the completion of a sentence began in verse 9 while verse 11 ends on a matter that will be continued in verse 12. In reference to the source of our eternal salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ, in verse 10 we read, "being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek." And in reference to Melchizedek, verse 11 reads, "Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing."

Briefly, in regards to verse 1 0, we again see the Hebrew writer declaring that Jesus' high priesthood is according to the designation of such from God and also again, that His priesthood is according to a particular order. Although the repetition of this truth is in part a reflection on the original recipients of the letter, it is in general an indication of the significance of the truth. As previously indicated, the writer will go into more detail regarding His unique role as high priest and this "order of Melchizedek".

But I will focus today's thoughts primarily on verse 11. The author indicates that he has much to say to the Hebrew believers regarding Melchizedek but indicates a situation that makes it difficult for him to explain this matter. I must wonder how much this same situation is found in the Church today. So many wonderful truths that the Holy Spirit wishes to impart to the hearts and minds of its members but the members have become dull of hearing.

We could go into the many different things that have brought about our hearing impairment, but this is not the forum for such. I simply hope that when necessary we would willingly acknowledge our dullness of hearing and humbly ask God to so work in our lives that we might have ears to hear and humble hearts to receive the wonderful truths of His word.

Short Thoughts for Today

It is not uncommon for people to cite a certain source in their effort to demonstrate the superiority of a particular product. Take the many varieties of bottled water. Three empty bottles near my desk each cite the source of the water they once contained. One cites its source as Superior Springs, Washington. Another says it is bottled at a source near Mount Shasta, California. And the third touts its source as being Hope Springs, British Columbia in Canada. We hear of California wine, Washington State apples, and Tillamook, Oregon cheese, Alaskan king crab, Copper River salmon and the list goes on and on.

But our scripture for today's short thoughts, found in Hebrews 5, tells us about the source of something much more important to every man. Here the author writes of our source of eternal salvation. In verse 9 we read, "And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation". The Lord Jesus Himself is the source of eternal salvation, to each one who has believed on His name. Our source stands alone in uniqueness. In Acts 4:12 we read, "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." He is the sinless One. He is the crucified, yet risen One. He is the ascended One who lives forevermore. And He is the One who is coming again.

There may be multiple sources of good drinking water found amongst the many springs that are found on the earth. But I am reminded today of Jesus' words recorded by the Apostle John in John 4:14 where He said, "but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." May we boldly and lovingly proclaim the source or our eternal salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Short Thoughts for Today

I have often found today's passage somewhat intriguing as it speaks of Jesus learning something. We might first think that such a thing would be impossible until we remember that God have never partook of flesh and blood as He did in the person of Jesus. In Hebrews 5:8 we read, "Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered."

This verse does not suggest that Jesus was ever disobedient but that there was a process whereby He learned obedience. In His humanity, He was born an infant and matured through adolescence, His young adult years, and eventually grew to be a man. When He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, physically weak from eating nothing for forty days, He looked to what had been written, the Holy scriptures, as He learned obedience. As He dwelt amongst men, seeing first hand the effects of sin in the lives of those He loved, He spent much time in prayer, learning obedience. As He suffered great agony in the garden on that night preceding His crucifixion, He repeatedly sought the Father's strength to do His will as He learned obedience.

Are we learning the lesson of obedience through the things which we suffer? We suffer much in the "body of this death", our own struggles and the effect of sin on a world we live in. He calls us to walk as "children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation". I am not suggesting an obedience to a set of rules and regulations. Ours is a higher calling than that. The obedience that Jesus "learned" was His life of faith. It was marked by His trust in His heavenly Father and His desire to do His will. Time and again He showed us that we must go to the Father and the never faltering truth of His word. May He help each one of us to learn obedience. Trusting in Him is a wonderful joy!

Short Thoughts for Today

He cried out loudly and He was heard. Praise God! Today's short thoughts come from Hebrews 5:7 where the author wrote, "In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety."

It is one thing for men to cry out to a God they do not know and do not worship. They may even pray to God, hoping that if He does exist He will hear them and perhaps answer them. The Apostle John was inspired to teach that a man cannot truly know God if he does not know God's Son, Jesus. He wrote that the "one who does not believe God ", regarding the truth of His Son, "has made Him a liar".

But we see in today's passage, that in His humanity, Jesus prayed to "the One able to save Him from death". His was not a prayer of aimless hope and unknowing expectation. No, He knew where to take His prayers and supplications. He went to "the One able to save Him from death" with full assurance that He could. As He bids us to come to the throne of grace, may we go in faith, believing in the One who calls us there!

Short Thoughts for Today

In Hebrews 5:5-6 we read, "So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, "THOU ART MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN THEE"; just as He says also in another passage, "THOU ART A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK." On the one hand we find the author pointing out a likeness that was shared by Christ and the Old Testament priests regarding their priesthood. On the other hand the writer begins to explain the uniqueness of Christ's high priesthood that he will expound on later.

We already saw that the high priest was called by God and that he did not take the honor unto himself. In like manner, Christ also "did not glorify Himself" but had become high priest at the will of God. This might seem somewhat confusing for us who know Christ to be God Himself and struggle to understand the mystery ofthe Trinity. But it is consistent with other scripture. He did not act independently of the other two persons of the Godhead. The Father, the Spirit and the Son were in harmonious agreement with His coming and with His role as high priest.

We read time and again that Jesus came to do the will of His father in Heaven. We read that He didn't even speak on His own initiative but spoke only the things of His father. He was declared "A PRIEST FOREVER" by the Holy trinity. No, He did not glorify Himselfbut we can rejoice that He has been glorified and that one day we will see Him "face to face in all His glory"