By Gerjo Ben Van Der Merwe  September 05, 2021

Some people are all thumbs. They can’t fix anything that’s broken in the house. They don’t even know what tools to use. Well, many of them don’t even have a toolbox that’s worth mentioning.

But some others can fix anything. It’s as if they were born with a bag of tools in their hands. We have a friend like that. She makes clothes. She repairs clothes. She repairs broken stuff. And if it looks like she doesn’t have a solution, she makes a plan. Her tool sets and devices would make any man jealous.

I’m probably about halfway between these two. Especially after inheriting all of grandpa’s tools, I thoroughly enjoy fixing broken things. But now and then I look too deep into the problem, take too many parts apart to know where they should go again. And I would have to go red-faced to a professional with all the parts so that he or she can repair the thing.

As I grew older, I learned through trial and error what I could take apart and try to fix, and what I should rather leave to the professional people. But even then, you first have to make sure that that person knows what he or she is doing. It’s a year later. The plumber has been here five times. Even the manufacturer of the geyser has been here, but it still leaks.

How frustrating!

The priests in the Old Testament were professional people as well. They were appointed by God to be the intermediaries between the people and God. The author of Hebrews has repeatedly pointed out that part of their professional duties was to make sacrifices, animals that had to die so that the people didn’t have to pay for their sin.

But even these professional people, these people who were born with the tools to be priests, had to do their work again and again. They were not able to solve the problem once and for all. Almost like the plumber who is struggling to sort out the leaking geyser once and for all.

Then Jesus was appointed as the high priest, the last, truly professional one: 6But Jesus’ priestly work far surpasses what these other priests do, since he’s working from a far better plan. If the first plan-the old covenant-had worked out, a second wouldn’t have been needed.

This message is conveyed to us in various ways, again and again. So, we should now start making it part of our lives. God has solved our problem regarding sin once and for all. Now it is time that we live as saved people. Now we need to loosen the brake, put down the packet of punishment at the cross, and go and tell the world about the last, truly professional Priest who has finished with our burden of sin.

Now go and live like that.

Reflection
What do you do well?
Do you know what earthly task Jesus has given you?
How do you live it in the world?

Prayer
Lord, You are great! You know what we can do well and what we can’t. And I know the best thing You did was to send Jesus to earth for my sin. That was the last, and more than enough. Thank you for that. Please help me to go and live like a saved person out there and to make a difference in the lives of other people. Amen.

Hebrews 8:6-13 But Jesus’ priestly work far surpasses what these other priests do, since he’s working from a far better plan. If the first plan—the old covenant—had worked out, a second wouldn’t have been needed. But we know the first was found wanting, because God said, Heads up! The days are coming when I’ll set up a new plan for dealing with Israel and Judah. I’ll throw out the old plan I set up with their ancestors when I led them by the hand out of Egypt. They didn’t keep their part of the bargain, so I looked away and let it go. This new plan I’m making with Israel isn’t going to be written on paper, isn’t going to be chiseled in stone; This time I’m writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts. I’ll be their God, they’ll be my people. They won’t go to school to learn about me, or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons. They’ll all get to know me firsthand, the little and the big, the small and the great. They’ll get to know me by being kindly forgiven, with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean. By coming up with a new plan, a new covenant between God and his people, God put the old plan on the shelf. And there it stays, gathering dust.

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