Anchor Devotional

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Suffering for Us

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.” Hebrews 4:15

It seems like a world away now, but when I was a child, I resented God. I was trapped in a broken home, exposed to violence and chaos, and helpless to flee. All I knew about God was from the Sunday School stories of heroic Bible figures whom the Lord was saving from floods and armies and lions and so on. How could any of this fit into my life?

In time I came to understand and believe the words of Hebrews 4 saying, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (v. 13). The Lord saw me and loved me. Before I was even exposed to the brokenness of my wretched home life, I was exposed before Him in the nakedness of my sin. No wonder Adam and Eve tried to clothe themselves!

We do not first need a Savior of sufferers, but a Savior of sinners. The One who came for our sin also suffered the ravages of this world. He was delivered into suffering, not out of it. He was delivered into the hands of wicked men, not out of them, all for His love of people like you and me.

SCRIPTURE FOCUS
Hebrews 4:11-16

INSIGHT
And He did this all without griping at God or sinning, but with the powerful words, “Thy will be done.”

THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Ezra 5-6
Psalm 28
Mark 7

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