Listen

Every priest stands every day serving and offering the same sacrifices over and over, sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when this priest offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right side of God. Since then, he’s waiting until his enemies are made into a footstool for his feet, because he perfected the people who are being made holy with one offering for all time.

Think

Perfect love… What is it? I remember early one-sided romances where I dreamed of perfect love. I saw this as the embodiment of everything I wanted, all my dreams, perfection as it was defined in movies and storybooks.

In today’s verses we learn of true perfect love as it occurs in God’s salvation for us through Jesus. We hear of a love that is sacrificial, a love that refines simply through its offering, a love that initiates a process where we become more like Jesus.

I pray you have experienced Christ’s love – his saving grace. As importantly, I hope you are in the process of being remade in his image – becoming more like Jesus with each passing day. Too often, I fail miserably in my personal faith journey. When this happens, I remember Christ’s forgiveness, grace, and mercy and try again. You can do the same.

Bill Ogletree

Pray

Lord, thank you for your perfect love in the sacrifice of Jesus. Help me to move forward in this day to live out your purpose for my life. Help others to see Jesus in me. Amen.

Go

Stay focused on Jesus, and work to play your position with boldness.

Consider the words of Trappist monk and theologian Thomas Merton:

“My Lord God […] I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.”