Brought Near

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

-- Ephesians 2:13 (NKJV)

One of the most memorable illustrations I have ever seen of how the cross serves us is that it became a bridge for us to return to God. A great chasm opened between mankind and God when Adam and Eve sinned. No matter how long or how hard he tried, man has not been able to span that gap of his own power. Then God sent His Son to us and sacrificed Him in payment of our sins. The instrument of Christ's death provides a crossing for us to be together with God once again.

Paul was speaking to the church in Ephesus, a gentile audience, when he wrote the above. He noted that they had been without Christ, without God, since they were not Jews or did not live in the land of Israel. But because Christ had defeated death for them, they could now share in the glory of heaven. The cross of Christ bridges the chasm and brings them near, His blood washes them clean, and they can now approach God.

Jesus, our wonderful Savior, thank You for giving us a bridge we can cross to return to You, to God. Thank You for washing our sins away with the blood You shed on our behalf. May we sing of Your glory for ever and ever. Amen.

My Help

My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

-- Psalm 121:2 (NKJV)

In the first verse of this Psalm, David comments "I will lift up my eyes to the hills", followed by the question "From whence comes my help?". (Psalm 121:1) This is likely a subtle (or not so subtle) mockery of idolatry. Paganism and idol worship were often practiced on hill and mountain tops in those times. But he can't find anything there, because he asks where is his help. So the first verse basically says he looked to the idols, the false gods, for help, but nothing came from them. No help was in sight. This doesn't mean that David himself worshipped idols or other gods. No, on the contrary, he was being sarcastic, deriding those gods as useless.

In verse two, David tells us where he truly turns for assistance: to the Lord Who made heaven and earth, to the one God, the true God. Why look to some impotent false idol for help, when you can seek out the most powerful being in all of creation, the very One who created everything else, the maker of the heavens and the earth? And isn't this still applicable today? If you're looking in a bottle or a syringe or a medicine cabinet to make you feel better, if you are turning to material objects or people with no moral compass for something you are missing, if you are lifting your eyes to the hills filled with false promises and broken dreams, you will never find your help. Look instead to God, the maker of all creation. He will always help.

Father, thank You for giving us a true, faithful, and ready source of help in all our needs and times of despair. Thank You for not failing us when we need You the most. Amen.