December 28, 2024 Devo

Do you ever feel as if you can’t perfectly live up to all you know you need to be and do? Welcome to the human race. It is our common struggle and our common journey. When God gave the laws and rules to His people, He did so to keep them from falling into chaos and living however they wanted to. He gave them certain feasts, festivals, and rituals to remind them of who He was and how they needed Him in their lives. He also gave them a yearly ritual of the sacrifice of a lamb to cover their sins—all the ways they fell short.
Then Jesus came. And everything changed. Where we couldn’t live perfectly, Jesus did. Where we could never truly come up with a “perfect” sacrifice to make amends for our imperfections, Jesus became that sacrifice. When Jesus sat with His Disciples during that Last Supper, He let them know that this was a pivotal moment in history. God was entering into a New Agreement with mankind. And Jesus was going to do for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves.
So, stop. Stop beating yourself up every time the Enemy points out that you fell short again. Stop believing you can make yourself right before God by doing more, giving more, or working harder. You can’t. If you stand right before God today, it is because of the perfection and grace of Jesus, not your own. So, claim HIS grace. Claim HIS righteousness. Stop telling God you're going to try harder, and tell Him instead how much you recognize the need for Jesus to live through you. You don’t have to beat yourself up for your inadequacy. Jesus died for that inadequacy. HE is now our sufficiency. Not ourselves.
God doesn’t want you to be a slave to rules. He wants you to love Him. He wants you to follow Him out of gratitude and wisdom. Our obedience honors God, and it positions us for Him to bless us. But it doesn’t make us “right” with Him. Jesus made us “right” when He took our wrongs. Embrace the New Covenant that Jesus has made with us. Because it’s one where HE does all the heavy lifting! That’s God’s Word for you today.