Replace – November 13, 2018

[Christ] has appeared once for all…to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Hebrews 9:26

Replace


Daily Devotion – November 13, 2018

Devotion based on Hebrews 9:26

See series: Devotions

Harry Truman was taking a bath on the second floor of the White House one day when his bathtub nearly fell through the floor. If it had, the president would have landed in the middle of a tea party being hosted by Mrs. Truman for the Daughters of the American Revolution. He immediately called in experts to investigate the building’s condition. What they found was appalling. The 150-year-old structure was on the verge of collapse. As one inspector said, “The White House is staying up through force of habit alone.”

The inspection also revealed something ironic. It revealed that, over the years, every time there had been an effort to “improve” the White House, the improvement had only made matters worse. In light of all this, President Truman was determined not only to save the White House, but to do it in such a way that no future president would have to worry about such a project ever again.

Here’s what happened. Highly trained crews arrived. They carefully preserved the building’s outer shell. They constructed a new foundation, making sure it reached all the way down to solid rock, and not just sand. Finally, they replaced the entire inner structure. They took out all the tired, cracked wood and put in skyscraper-caliber steel. Thanks to Harry Truman, the saving of the White House is about as permanent as permanent can be in this temporary old world.

By nature, your life and mine resembles the condition of the White House when Harry Truman was taking his bath. On our own we may manage to maintain a decent-looking outer shell. But left to us our foundation rests on sand. Inside we are broken. Total collapse is just a matter of when. In addition, anything we do for self-improvement may seem helpful in the short term, but without a radical rescue it only makes matters worse.

And that’s why Jesus came. But when he did, he came not just to shore up our lives here and there for a little while longer. He came to deal with our problem in such a way that we would never have to worry about that problem again. He saw how our sin had broken us. He saw how our sin had given us only shifting sand, only the uncertainty of drifting from one thing to the next.

Then he addressed the problem. He confronted our sin head-on. He took it all to the cross and paid for it in full. In its place, he covered us in the holiness of his own perfect life. Now, through faith in him, we are new. Our foundation is Christ. Our future is secure. And because it is, our days of brokenness and uncertainty are no more.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, apart from you I am broken. In you I am whole. I am yours. Amen.

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