During my quiet time this morning, I prayed for the children. For their needs. I also prayed for Renata and asked for clarity about God’s calling for her and that she will strive to fulfill it.

I prayed for myself too and for my calling, and especially that I will understand God’s Word clearly and correctly, also in my calling to convey God’s Word in today’s words 100% clearly.

I suspect the latter arose from an email I received from someone who said that they did not agree with me that heaven will expire. I went back to the message and realised that an ‘s’ had dropped off the word heavens.

Instead of saying that the earth and heavens will one day also come to an end, it says that heaven, God’s dwelling place where we’re all going one day, is coming to an end.

Obviously, that’s not true. God’s heaven will never stop existing.

I realise how easily a mistake can slip in – simply omitting one letter gives it a whole new meaning. I’m grateful for the reader who is serious about their faith and won’t take anything at face value.

Actually, it is the responsibility of every child of God to make sure that they’re not eating the wrong cake. Each of us has a responsibility to make sure that spiritual leaders are not guiding us in the wrong direction.

⁹Don’t be lured away from him by the latest speculations about him. The grace of Christ is the only good ground for life. Products named after Christ don’t seem to do much for those who buy them.

The audience for whom Hebrews was intended came from a strong tradition of food they were allowed to eat and not eat. For some of them, these laws carried so much weight that their faith was based on it. The better you adhered to the laws, the stronger your faith was. It was as if your faith was maintained by your eating habits, or that your faith was shaped by the food you ate.

Actually, it then becomes quite absurd. They are continually striving to do something, live a certain way, or indeed not do something, to qualify. A friend of mine calls it “performance-based Christianity”. Remember, there’s nothing that we can do to ensure our place in heaven.

Jesus’ death on the cross makes it possible for us to go to heaven, and yes, heaven will never end. Even less do we have to work (or eat!) to get a place in heaven. Jesus’ death on the cross wrote off the debt of sin that we collect here on earth.

You and I must make sure that we adhere to the correct truth. We should not allow the clergy to lead us the wrong way. We must know and keep believing that our faith grows stronger not in a performance-based Christianity, but only from God’s undeserved grace.

Thank goodness for that!

Scripture
Hebrews 13:9-16

Reflection
Do you know whether you believe correctly?
How much do works play a role?
What strengthens your faith?

Prayer
Father, I sometimes doubt whether I do enough to get to heaven. I realise it’s not right to think this way. Thank you that Jesus’ death on the cross is enough. It frees me and takes my worries away. Amen.