Fri.’s Devo - Useful

Read: Ezekiel 14:12-16:41; Hebrews 7:18-28; Psalm 106:1-12; Proverbs 27:4-6 God gave Ezekiel a scenario to consider. What if a nation sinned against the Lord so much that he had to crush them by cutting off their food supply and sending a famine to destroy them and their animals? Would one man’s righteousness be able to save them? The answer was, “NO”. Not even if they were Noah, Daniel or Job. Noah was the only righteous man who had not fallen to then sin of mixing his DNA with demons (Genesis 6). He stood alone in his stand to stay true to God. The whole world was destroyed and he and his family were the only survivors. Daniel stood for God in a very evil land. He had the exalted position in the kingdom of Babylon yet he refused to bow to their gods or defile himself with their food. Job was persecuted without a cause and it looked like the culprit was God, yet he refused to blame God. He stood by himself in his faithfulness to God even though his wife and friends told him to curse God and die. These three stood alone and were vindicated by God and that was God’s point. Israel had fallen so deeply into sin that God would not save the nation for the few. The few faithful would only be able to save themselves, but they were not enough to save their nation. The people of Israel had become useless to the Lord because of their choices. God went through their history and how he had chosen them to lavish his affection and glory on. But, instead of thanking him and serving him, they had turned to other gods and other nations to defile themselves with. God had had it and it was time for punishment and payment for their crimes. In Hebrews, it was the requirements for the priesthood that were useless. In its place, God appointed Jesus to be the High Priest. The Old Testament priests died but Jesus lives eternal so he is forever our Priest. His sacrifice on the cross paid for our sins forever and like the Old Testament priests, Jesus offers prayers for us eternally. He is the perfect High Priest because he never sinned and can’t be removed. Lord, thank you that you don’t consider us useless but we are so loved by yo