TLIC Family. Day 326. November 22: Let us.

THINK TOGETHER

What is your conscience? Has your conscience ever made you feel bad when you did something bad?

READ TOGETHER

For a lot of people being a Christian is mostly about trying to be good. Their faith is centered on trying really hard to not sin. Or even worse, it might be all about trying really hard to keep God happy by being good in order to make up for being bad.

This is called religion. Religion is about doing things to keep God happy, or to earn his love. It’s about making sure your conscience is clear all the time. Do you know what your conscience is? It’s that part of your soul that feels guilty when you do bad, and feels good when you do what is right. 

But God doesn’t want us to live a life of religion He wants us to simply love and trust him and spend time with him. He wants relationship not religion. And to make sure that we can actually have a relationship with him without worrying all the time about our sin and our guilty consciences, he took away all our sin, and guilt, and shame through Jesus.

So now what? What does a Christian do if they aren’t worried about their guilt? What do they do if they don’t have to keep God happy all the time? What do they do if they don’t have to make sacrifices for their sins?

Three things. See if you can hear the three things God wants us to do in these verses in Hebrews. They each start with the words “Let us:”

Hebrews 10:19-25.¹⁹ Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

What are the three things that God wants us to do?

First, God wants us to draw near to him. He wants us to come to him with everything in our hearts and in our minds. He wants us to pray to him. He already knows all about us but he wants us to trust him and bring it all to him anyway.

Second, God wants us to never give up on what we believe. He wants us to hold on tight to our confession (what we say about what we believe) about Jesus.

And third, God wants us to never quit on each other. He wants us to keep meeting with each other in church in order to encourage each other to love God and help one another.

Can you do those things. With God’s help inside of you, yes you can.

Because of Jesus we never have to worry about our sin keeping us from God.

With Jesus we can go to God and to each other with faith, hope, and love.

DO SOMETHING TOGETHER

Hebrews talks about us having been “cleansed from an evil conscience.” Watch this scene from Pinocchio together about telling lies. Does the good fairy ask Pinocchio to be good because he is already loved and good, or in order to become loved and good?

PRAY TOGETHER

Jesus,

Help me to live my life from love for you and not just from religion or trying to make sure you’re not mad at me, because you’re not mad at me.

Amen.

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