SOMETHING BETTER!

"God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect."
(Hebrews 11:40).

Devotion 1 of 10

INTRODUCTION

The Word of God associates salvation with greatness and excellence. Nothing about it is mediocre, common, or usual. A "great God" is not capable of providing an average or inferior salvation (as if there could be such a thing!). What we have in Christ is "better" from every vantage point. Any view to the contrary, regardless of its popularity, is a delusion. As such, it is damaging to those that embrace it.

"Nothing bettered!"

Like the woman with the issue of blood, many people are "nothing bettered" (Mark 5:26) by
their exposure to theological doctors. Their religion is inferior, and thus robs rather than helps them. They are not receiving "better things," and therefore are no better themselves. When they meet with their religious peers, it is "not for the better" (1 Cor 11:17). Such things are inexcusable in this "day of salvation" (1 Cor 6:2). We have a better covenant, better promises, and a better High Priest! Nothing about this situation does not make for personal betterment and spiritual advance! To ignore such benefits is disastrous. To embrace them is to be blessed!

Characterized by excellence

The New Covenant is characterized by spiritual excellence. Every aspect of it enables growth
and brings advantage. It never levels off or deteriorates. There is no monotony at any point of human involvement with this marvelous covenant. It has a glory that "excelleth" (2 Cor 3:10), shining "brighter and brighter unto the perfect day" (Prov 4:18). The power experienced in Christ is noted for its "excellency" (2 Cor 4:7). Those who aggressively seek to know Jesus find such knowledge "excellent" (Phil 3:8). If there are those content to limit themselves to the possession of extraordinary abilities, they are challenged with "a more excellent way" (1 Cor 12:31). The best of spiritual gifts are not "excellent," a reality highly disruptive of much flashy religion.

We are called to the realm of "better things." We do not require artificial or external stimuli in
heavenly places! "Better things," when perceived, charge the spirit and inflame the emotion. Passivity flees from us when we lay hold of "things that are excellent." It is the nature of such things to heighten creativity and increase the energy of the soul. They are good things! They are glorious things! They are accessible things!

Make no place for artificiality or pretension in your religion! God has "provided some better
thing for us" (Heb 11:40), and everything about it is true, effective, and within your grasp! Without
laboring the point, the great deficiency of modern religion is its failure to appropriate the "better things" brought to us by Christ!

The menace of mediocrity

The menace of mediocrity is lethal in its effects, desensitizing the soul to eternal verities. Little
wonder Jesus indicted lukewarmness with such severity. When the fires of zeal are cooled in the soul, even though a "form of godliness" is maintained, the individual becomes repulsive to Jesus. Let no person suppose this to be an extreme statement. Jesus has declared Himself on this matter. "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent" (Rev 3:15-19).

Why are Christ's words so harsh against this church? It is because the attitude of the Laodiceans was in sharp conflict with the nature of the Savior they professed to have embraced. Everything about the divine initiative toward men is excellent. The provision of the Law and the prophets prepared men for a remarkable redemption. The powerful ministry of John the Baptist was anything but mediocre. Our Lord Jesus Christ aggressively entered into the work given Him by the Father: seeking and saving that which was lost. It is not possible to embrace such a Savior while remaining under the domination of apathy, indifference, or halfheartedness.

The alarming dominance of mediocrity in the churches is cause for great concern. It indicates
a condition that will, if not arrested, lead to sure condemnation. Mediocrity hides the benefits of
the covenant, making it impossible to appropriate them. Without those benefits, we cannot survive the attacks of the devil, nor triumph over his delusions.

PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You for a great, excellence, and better salvation. O Father, give me grace, in the name of Jesus, to separate myself some every form of spiritual mediocrity and inferiority!

-- TOMORROW: A GREAT SALVATION --