A Wholly Holy Equipping

For class we had an assignment to write a devotion from Hebrews, something that we had learned or just really struck us this week. So I thought I'd share mine with you. 

Hebrews 13:20-21:

Now may the God of peace who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen

A more fitting benediction to Hebrews could not be stated. A book full of fearsome warnings, confusing controversies and strong exhortations, Hebrews can leave a believer floundering in despair. There is such an emphasis throughout the book on faith, endurance and spiritual maturity, I feel completely inadequate to the task set before me; the responsibilities of being a child of God. Do I have the ability to pay close enough attention to what I have heard, enough to keep from drifting away (2:1)? Can I be diligent enough to enter God's rest (4:11)? Do I have enough confidence to draw near to the “throne of grace, that [I] may receive mercy” (4:16)? Am I mature enough to discern good and evil (5:14)? Am I able to hold fast without wavering (10:23)? Do I have “faith to the preserving of the soul (10:39)? Do I have the endurance to run the race (12:1)? To most of these questions I cannot answer yes with certainty but for the knowledge that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20).

Yet of even more assurance, this benediction convinces me that God gives me the equipment to make it happen. It brings such encouragement to know that we have a powerful God who does not leave us out there alone for if so, no one could be saved. As Hebrews states: “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (11:6) and faith itself is a gift from God, nothing of my own efforts. To know that I can pray, ask and receive from Him, the ability to live rightly is a miracle. My God, who created the world, bestows us with blessings, loves us even as sinners, provides a way of salvation through the blood covenant and raising His Son from the dead is surely capable of providing me with the means to live a life pleasing to Him.

Not only is this God powerful enough to raise the dead, He even provided us with such a Shepherd as His Son. A Shepherd who is also our “high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26). Indeed, I will gladly, whole-heartedly, thankfully be a sheep guided by this Shepherd and equipped by God. For in this position I have full assurance that through Jesus, I have “every good thing to do His will...that which is pleasing in His sight” (Hebrews 13:21). God working in me makes it possible for me to please Him and bring Him glory. How grateful I am that this is possible for I would surely fail on my own.

“To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”