Divine Salad

I never was a big fan of salads, as a child, until I discovered tasty salad dressings.   I also became a fan of tomatoes and other vegetables in the salad.  But the foundation of the salad was always the fresh, crisp bed of lettuce.  This afternoon I'll be meeting with a few close friends to discuss the 2nd half of Hebrews, chapter 10.  As I read that passage this morning, I discovered a holy salad that is intended to be dressed with my obedience.  The salad of Hebrews, chapter 10, verses 19-25 is also built on a bed of lettuce (only it is spelled: "let us").

 

Hebrews 10:22 "let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water."

Hebrews 10:23 "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:24 "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Hebrews 10:25 "Let us not give meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

 

As we head into the fall and we resume a fuller schedule, with school and church activities ramping up, let us reflect on this divine salad.  This wonderful, holy dish has been prepared at great cost.  Verses 19-21 tell us that we can confidently come into the presence of the Lord because Jesus has torn down the curtain to the Most Holy Place with the sacrifice of His own body and yet He is now alive and serves us as the high Priest over God's house.  And so we should have a faith that full of confidence and assurance.  We are clean because He has washed us.  Our hope of eternal life is secure because Jesus can be trusted to keep His promise and He has shown the way through death to enter God's court.  But we have work to do while we still walk the earth.  We need to encourage each other to continue to share Christ, and to represent Him accurately and faithfully to others.  For there are many who walk the decks of a sinking ship who need to find the lifeboat, while time permits the opportunity.  And we must draw strength from each other because the enemy who failed to prevent our personal salvation works continually to distract and dull us from effectiveness.  We who have trusted in the Lord Jesus for eternal life are part of the great mixed salad of believers.  But the salad needs to benefit from the addition of others to enhance its flavor.  Let us walk in hope and live in power and dress this salad with our lives in the salad bowl of living.  (The fruits of the salad are the fruits of the Spirit)

 

blessings,

Rob Smith