Passage Read: Hebrews 1-2
Meditation Verse: 2:10
Thought
It was fitting, says the writer of Hebrews, that God made Jesus perfect through suffering. How was it fitting? How are the two connected, bringing many sons to glory and perfecting Jesus through suffering? So it is not just that suffering is the path to glory, but bringing others to glory is also through suffering! So there is no glory for anyone without someone suffering. Paul says as much in Romans 8, that those who share in Christ's sufferings will also share in His glory. More than that, it appears that the path to perfection lies through suffering. It was fitting that the One who knew no sin should be made perfect through suffering for the sins of others. This is not just a statement about Jesus, but a truth for all of us, that perfection, full and complete submission to the will of God, doing everything He asks, is best proven through suffering. And so suffering must come to all whom God desires to perfect, as they obey His will. Suffering must come in order to test the fullness and depth of our faith, trust and obedience to God. And the ultimate test is to choose obedience even though it costs my life.
Application
God's value system declares that suffering to bring others to glory is right and makes perfect the one who suffers. I can't suffer for another's sin, to pay for it, but I can suffer many things in order to bring the Gospel of salvation to those who need it. I can suffer the loss of comfort, convenience, modern technology, rights, property, possessions, income. I can suffer the loss of safety and security. I can suffer sickness and disease. I can suffer hostility, hatred, cursing, shame, pain, loss of limb, and yes, even death. Choosing to care more about the eternal destination of strangers than my own temporal comfort is a fitting path, in God's eyes, to perfection. And it does take a deep and growing faith in the promise and hope of the Gospel and the faithfulness of the God of the Gospel, that there is something far better on the other side of death than there is on this side. I want that faith, growing into an ever-increasing willingness to suffer that others could be saved.