Get ready to start a journey…a journey through the pages of the Bible and the pages of your life.
This verse emphasizes that every believer has at least one gift. The gift is not given for us to let atrophy from lack of use. It has been given “to serve one another.” Neglecting to use your gift, for whatever reason, not only hurts you but the entire body of Christ. You have a gift! Time to use it!
The great prophets of old were used by God to serve us. Let that thought rattle around in your head for a while. Because of God’s grace and love for us, the “Spirit of Christ” (1 Peter 1:11) gave visions of the future regarding the coming of Jesus. The prophets on the Old Testament side of the cross did not fully grasp all they were writing about. But for believers, on the New Testament side of the cross, we have the gracious privilege of seeing words written seven hundred years before Jesus lived on this earth come to fulfillment. The prophets were “serving not themselves” but us.
Today’s passage, the Shema (from the Hebrew word “hear”), is a confession of faith. It is recited every day by pious Jews and every Sabbath in the synagogues. We have been using these powerful verses as a parenting evaluation.
Our Sin-Bearer paid the penalty for every morsel of juicy gossip, every white lie, every murder, and every despicable action of man. And when we trust in Jesus’ death as our own, he throws our sin into the depth of the sea. He puts it behind his back. The God with perfect memory chooses to remember our sin no more. Forgiveness is love in action!
Jesus is the King installed on Zion. And one day every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that he is Lord…Ruler of all!! On that day, the world will finally experience peace.