|
        |
|
|
Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International. |
||||
The Ultimate Sacrifice
Then Jesus
said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will
give you rest.”1 I was reading
in the book of Isaiah the other day and read some verses that seemed very
familiar yet completely different. Isaiah 43:22-24 caught my attention, as it says:
“But, dear family of Jacob, you refuse to ask for my help. You have grown tired
of me, O Israel! You have not brought me sheep or goats for burnt offerings.
You have not honored me with sacrifices, though I have not burdened and wearied
you with requests for grain offerings and frankincense. You have not brought me
fragrant calamus or pleased me with the fat from sacrifices. Instead, you have
burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your faults.” Verse 24 says that
they had burdened God with their sins and wearied him with their faults; those
words are used again in Matthew 11:28, but now telling those who are weary and
who carry heavy burdens to come to Him. So what changed that allowed us to go
from negatively burdening God to being told to go to Him and give Him our
burdens? In the time of
Isaiah, the Israelites continuously disobeyed God and offered empty sacrifices
with the wrong motives, burdening God. They did not have direct access to Him without
making a sacrifice first; sacrifices were required for them to seek forgiveness
and approach the presence of God. However, in the New Testament, Jesus came into
the picture as the human form of God and sacrificed himself for the sins of the
world; that is what changed. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice that wiped all of
our sins away and allows us to have a close, personal relationship with the
Lord. Now, because of what He did for us, we can come boldly to His throne
(Hebrews 4:16) and give Him our burdens, and in return, we will receive rest,
mercy, and grace. Suggested
prayer: Dear God, thank you for Jesus, who came to Earth and became perfect the
sacrifice that allowed me to come before you freely and confidently. Thank you
for being my place of rest when I am burdened by the cares of this world. In the
precious name of Jesus I pray, Amen. 1.
Matthew
11:28 (NLT) Today’s Encounter
was written by: Gianna B. |
||||
| |
||||
2. To Know God and be sure you're a real |
 |
|||
3. Donate: To help send Daily Encounter |
 |
|||
4. To send today's Daily Encounter to a friend |
|
|||
5. To share your faith in a simple, attractive |
 |
|||
6. For today's featured article click on: |
 |
|||
7. This week's chuckle as seen "On the Lighter |
 |
|||
8. Change Address of your subscription to |
 |
|||
Previous Page Site Map |
 Top |
