Reading: Hebrews 8

“This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. NO LONGER WILL THEY TEACH THEIR NEIGHBOR, or say to one another ‘KNOW THE LORD; because THEY WILL ALL KNOW ME, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. ” 

-Hebrews 8:10-12

    WOW. As I read that I just think “WOW!”, Oh, how great this will be! A day when we no longer have to evangelize, but rather all of creation will bow in reverence to God and live as Christ did. As we read in chapter 6, we are to move on from the elementary teachings of Christianity, this is the end goal. We are to all live knowing the LORD.  In John 14:12, Jesus tells us “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father.” Jesus tells us that if we believe in him, we will do the works he has been doing. Jesus is talking about miracles. Jesus says that believers in him are capable of raising the dead, feeding the hungry, freeing the oppressed. Jesus gives us that good old fashioned Old Testament ‘blessing’. Maybe you missed it, but Jesus says that WE WILL DO THINGS GREATER THAN HE DID. WHAT???? How do we do that? Well, by faith. By faith, we seek to help those who Jesus would help. By faith, we help set the oppressed free. (not diving into this at this moment but check this website out, your life will be changed. https://www.setfreemovement.com/) By faith, we feed thousands of hungry people. Jesus gives us the blessing that says “HEY, YOU CAN DO ALL THESE THINGS AND MORE. We are instructed time and time again to give to those in need, and that’s an encouragement I give you.

As most of you know, I was in Kenya, Africa for two weeks this past summer, and wow I am forever changed. I got to see the kids that live in Kenya and attend schools at ICCM (International Child Care Ministries), and I saw where my $30 a month was going, and now I know that I did not make a mistake by accepting God’s call on my life to sponsor a child in Kenya. You might not feel ‘directly’ called by God to sponsor a kid or to give money to the hungry somewhere in Asia, but that’s exactly what this new covenant is. These are the works that Jesus has been doing. He tells us in the Bible, his holy, perfect word to do exactly this; to feed the hungry and look after orphans and widows in their distress. I know $30 sounds like a lot and I’m not saying “sponsor a child or you’re doing this wrong”, I am simply using this as an example. I, an 18 (until Saturday Woop Woop), year old, college kid who works maybe 6 hours per week is affording this. In a 30 day month that’s a dollar per day, and in a 31 day month, it’s not even a dollar per day. Try not to buy a drink from McDonald's (or your favorite fast food restaurant) on your next visit and instead get a water. Boom a dollar saved. 30 of those and you’ve blessed a child with food for another month. If you’re interested in this, I’d encourage you to check out http://www.childcareministries.org/ . I’ve seen the results of this with my own eyes and wow what a blessing. I would like to repeat THIS IS NOT THE ONLY WAY. Live as Jesus did, read the Bible and figure out what that means… just a little hint, he tells us exactly what that means in Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  Live this way and we can reach exactly what we read in Hebrews 8 and “THEY WILL ALL KNOW ME.” Wow, this just sounds perfect to me, and I’m sure it does to you too. But we all think to ourselves just as the Pharisees would “How in the world do we do that?” The answer is simple...by faith. Remember this “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” -Matthew 17:20

Pray to God and ask how you can live as he did on this earth. Jesus is the perfect covenant and in conclusion one day we will all know him. God is so cool. Pray to him and seek his wisdom on how you can be like Jesus in your daily life. Jesus, we thank you for your blessings on our lives and we seek a way to use these blessings to further your kingdom and your way. Amen.