第八章

⁸   可是神指責他們，說：「看哪，主說，日子要到了，我要與以色列家和猶大家訂立新約。   ⁹   這新約不像從前我拉他們祖先的手，領他們出埃及的日子與他們所立的約。因為他們沒有遵守我的約，我就不理會他們。這是主說的。   ¹⁰   主說：『因為在那些日子以後，我要與以色列家所立的約是這樣：我要把我的律法放在他們的心思裡面，寫在他們的心上。我要作他們的　神，他們要作我的子民。   ¹¹   他們各人必不用教導自己的鄰居，和自己的同胞，說：你要認識主。因為所有的人，從最小到最大的，都必認識我。   ¹²   我也要寬恕他們的不義，決不再記著他們的罪惡。』」   ¹³  神既然說到新的約，就是把前約當作舊的了；那變成陳舊衰老的，就快要消逝了。

 

默想

1. 廣告業老早就指出兩個強有勁的推銷詞：「新」，「免費」。這也是希伯來書作者在第八章要提出的。舊的律法體系「變成陳舊衰老，就快要消逝了」（13節）。神在基督裡與我們立的新約，要「寬恕他們的不義，決不再記著他們的罪惡」（12節）。因著耶穌所付的代價，神不再紀念我們的罪。舊的約將人無法達到的標準刻印在石板上，新的約將討神喜悅的意願刻印在我們的內心深處，並激勵我們遵行律法上的要求。
2. 「新」——那些嘗試了其他所有的方法，仍然不能成為自己希望成為的人，可以求靠耶穌，使他們罪得赦免、生命得到更新。並且是「免費」的——基督的救恩完全不需我們付任何代價！
3. 默想下面這段話：

我們應當做“大字體”的基督徒，這樣別人就不需要與我們相識很久，或透過放大鏡，才能察覺我們真是基督的門徒。我們生命的信息應該像那些大的廣告招牌，讓任何人路經過就可以看見。– F. B. Meyer

我的信徒身份是明顯的，還是隱藏的？禱告，求主使我的“信徒廣告牌”，越來越擴大，越來越明顯易見。

 

禱告與筆錄：

繼續安靜在神面前，與神對話，並聆聽祂對我說的話。將心中的思想（心得），或是與神的禱告，記錄在「靈程筆記簿」上面。

 

CHAPTER 8

⁸But God found fault with the and said:    “The time is coming, declares the Lord,   when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.    ⁹It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.  ¹⁰This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord.  I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.   ¹¹No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.   ¹²For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” ¹³By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

MEDITATION

1. “New” and “Free” are two catchy words for any salesperson.  It also says here that the old system of Law didn’t work (vv 7, 9, 13) and was “obsolete and aging”.  The New Covenant provides total forgiveness for all our wicked acts (v 12).  Because Christ has paid the ransom, God no longer holds us accountable for our sins.  The Old Covenant engraved standards that men were unable to meet on tablets of stone.  The New Covenant engraves the desire to please God in our inmost being, and moves us to what Law demanded, but could not produce.
2. When it comes to faith, “new!” means for people who have tried everything else, and can turn to Jesus and find themselves forgiven and renewed.  And, it is “free”.  The salvation offered us in Christ, costs us nothing.
3. Meditate the following paragraph:  We ought to be Christians in large type, so that it would not be necessary for others to be long in our society, or to regard us through spectacles, in order to detect our true discipleship.  The message of our lives should resemble the big advertisements which can be read on the street by all who pass by.  – F. B. Meyer

How big is my “Disciple billboard”? Pray that the Lord will enlarge it to become more and more visible to those passing by.

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in the  “Spiritual Journal” book.