March 13, 2024

Passage Read: Ezra 6-9
Meditation Verses: 9:13-14

Thought

This is a right understanding of grace: After all we have suffered for our evil deeds and great guilt, because Jesus has taken the punishment we deserve on Himself for our sins, so God has repaid us less than our iniquities deserve. Should we then again break the Lord's commands? Should we treat God's word with contempt? Of course not! "If we continue to live in sin, there is no sacrifice for sin left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and raging fire that will consume the enemies of God" (Hebrews 10:26-27).

Application

In understanding and appreciation and gratitude for what God has done for me, in recognizing what Jesus has done for me and why, so I should put as much distance between myself and my former sinful ways. I need to draw near to the Lord in obedience and do His will, so that He will not be offended over my treatment of the sacrifice of His Son. If I care nothing for His ways, I deserve eternal rejection, even and especially after claiming the blood and death of Jesus as payment for my sins.