Young People’s Blog

“God…hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:1-2).

God has spoken to this world by His Son, the Lord Jesus, by sending Him into this world as a man. He had spoken in the Old Testament by prophets, but now He has sent His Son. God has in His purposes, first and foremost, the honor and glory of His Son. When we spoke about the Trinity a few days ago, we pointed out that the Lord Jesus, God’s Son, is always the One who carries out the purposes of God. For this reason, He was the One who created this world, as we see in our verses today.

But what is more wonderful than that is that God has appointed Him to be heir of all things (the One who inherits everything) and we notice that this is mentioned first. The Lord Jesus was appointed heir of all things back in a past eternity, before He made the worlds. And when He takes this place, we will be associated with Him. We have a wonderful Savior and a wonderful future.

“And which entereth into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus” (Hebrews 6:19-20).

An anchor always has a strong chain or cable attached to it. In years gone by, often a larger ship would have a “forerunner” — a smaller boat that would carry the anchor to shore and attach it to something very solid. Then the larger boat could simply follow the anchor and arrive safely in the harbor.

In our verses today, our anchor goes “within the veil.” In the tabernacle in the Old Testament, and later in the temple, God dwelt behind a heavy veil, in a place called the “holy of holies.” Only the high priest could go in there, with blood, once a year. In our verse, it simply means that our anchor is in the very presence of God. It can never move.

But who has been our forerunner? The Lord Jesus, for He has gone before, and now our anchor is safely in God’s presence. We have simply to follow the forerunner, and we will arrive safely home. What a wonderful security is ours!

“Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil” (Hebrews 6:19).

An anchor holds a ship firmly in place, and is especially important during a storm. The larger the ship, the stronger and heavier the anchor must be. Also, when the anchor is dropped into the water, it must be set into something that will hold it firmly. If a storm were fierce, the anchor might not hold the ship, and then it would drift, perhaps onto rocks. Before the days of motors, heavy anchors on sailing ships had to be lifted by a number of men who went round and round for hours, pushing against large wooden poles stuck into a round device on the deck called a capstan.

As Christians, you and I have an anchor of the soul, and it will never move. According to our verse today, it is “sure and steadfast,” because it “entereth into that within the veil.” No matter what happens in our lives, that anchor will hold, and we can never lose our salvation. Also, that anchor holds us steady in faith during difficult times that seem like storms in our lives. We will say a little more about this tomorrow.

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

In years gone by, when more of the world was ruled by kings, it was a serious thing to approach the king on his throne. He held absolute power, and with one word could send people to prison, take away their property, banish them from the country, or even send them to their death. Those who approached the king never knew how he might react to them, and there was often real fear in the king’s presence.

In our verse today we are reminded that when we approach the throne of God in prayer, we come to a throne of grace. We do not have to fear, for He loved us enough to send His Son to die for us. We have already obtained mercy when we were saved, and if we have needs now, we can approach that throne confidently. Even if we have done wrong, it is a throne of grace, and we will obtain mercy.

“Let your gentleness be known of all men. The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5 JND).

Sometimes we can learn something from watching the way animals act. We have a large bird feeder outside our window, and many different birds come. Among them are blue jays, who tend to be rough, aggressive, and ready to fight with one another. They tend to come three or four at a time, and often chase one another away from the feeder. They chase other birds away too.

But then there are the pretty yellow finches, who are just the opposite. They usually come later, and eat at the smaller cylindrical feeder that contains their food. Often we see a male and female eating quietly together, one on each side of the feeder. They are so peaceful and gentle.

When we go to school or to work, we should remember to be like the finches, and not like the blue jays. According to our verse, “the Lord is near.” This means that He is close at hand, observing all that we do. We should always act as if the Lord Jesus were standing close to us, and looking at us.

“Christ also suffered for us…who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:21, 23).

The Lord Jesus is God, and did not have to submit Himself to all the insults that man heaped upon Him. However, He did not answer back, threaten them, or use rough words with them. He committed it all to His Father, for those wicked men would be judged in a coming day. We are told to do the same thing, for we follow a rejected Christ.

However, the Lord Jesus did speak to men’s consciences all through His earthly ministry, and He spoke to those who ill-treated Him too. He reminded the Jewish leaders that “hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power” (Matt. 26:64), and He reminded Pilate that “thou couldest have no power at all against Me, except it were given thee from above” (John 19:11). But He did not defend Himself.

We are called to act the same way. It is good to reach the consciences of those who oppose us, but we are to accept reproach from this world; it is a normal thing for a Christian.

“Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice” (John 18:37).

When we hear something, we like to be sure that we are hearing the truth. Yet we live in a strange world today, for some people talk as if there can be more than one truth about a particular subject. Supposedly you can have your truth, and I can have mine, even if they contradict each other. Others would say that there is no absolute truth today; it is all relative. That means that we “make up” the truth, depending on the situation. But by definition, the truth excludes everything that is not true. A judge in a courtroom would not allow two witnesses to say opposite things about the same event, and then say, “Well, I guess they can both be right.”

If we wish to know the truth about any moral or spiritual subject, we must read the Word of God, and learn about Christ. He could say, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and the Lord Jesus reminded Pilate that He was the truth. When we know Christ, and walk with Him, we have the truth about everything that we see in this world, and on every moral and spiritual question.

“Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).

As Christians, we should be different from people of this world, for we have a new life in Christ. Our lifestyle should be noticeably different from those who have no hope beyond this present world. Sometimes those who are not saved may ask us why we live the way we do, and we should be ready to give them an answer. When I was young, sometimes I did not have an answer ready, and it was a bit embarrassing. We should be able to quote verses from the Word of God, and explain briefly what it means to be a Christian.

However, we need the Lord’s help in this, and that is why it says at the end of the verse, “with meekness and fear.” We should not be confident in ourselves, but rather depend on the Holy Spirit to lead us in what we say. Meekness does not mean weakness, but rather is strength that is under control. It means that we do not trust in ourselves, but in the Lord. He will give us the right words to say, if we ask Him.

“He that sinneth against Me wrongeth his own soul” (Proverbs 8:36).

When we sin, we often cause harm to others. Also, we certainly do wrong to the Lord, for God hates sin, and it causes Him pain when we sin. In fact, all the sin in this world causes pain to God, and we read in Psalm 7:11 that “God is angry with the wicked every day.” He sees all that goes on in this world, and it makes Him angry.

However, we read in our verse today that when we sin against the Lord, we really wrong our own soul most of all. We may think that we are getting pleasure out of the sin, and yes, there is pleasure in sin, but it lasts only a short time. Then afterward, sin has a sting in it that often lasts a long time. If someone does something bad to us, our natural tendency is to do something hurtful back to them. But in reality, we are hurting ourselves more than the other person.

Let us remember this, and avoid allowing sin in our lives. It is not worth it!

“Those that seek Me early shall find Me” (Proverbs 8:17).

In this chapter of Proverbs, wisdom is spoken of as if it were a person — a woman. She makes herself easily available to anyone who wants wisdom. In the beginning of the chapter, she cries “at the gates” of the city, and “standeth in the top of high places.” She is easy to see! Later in the chapter, we find that wisdom is Christ Himself, for Christ is the wisdom of God for our pathway in this world. Also, we find that Christ takes a real interest in us, for He says, “My delights were with the sons of men” (Proverbs 8:31).

However, we must do our part too, for we must want to get wisdom from God. It is important to seek this wisdom early in our lives, as today’s verse teaches us. God makes it available to us, but He does not force it on us. But those who seek for wisdom early will find her and get the benefit of her guidance. We need guidance from God today, more than ever before.