New Covenant

At church we are going through Hebrews. This last Sunday we went through chapter 8 verses 1-12. The concept that my pastor presented was one that I have heard before but... the wording he used and the way he presented it had a big impact on me. It was all about the new covenant. I always knew that my salvation was not based on what I did... but on what Christ did on the cross. But I guess I always had the belief that my relationship with Christ still depended on what I did... on how well I followed the rules. But the question my pastor asked us this Sunday made me realize I was wrong. The question was, "Do you want a relationship with Christ that depends on whether or not you can hold on?" Then he asked us, "Is it possible that God gave us the law so that we would realize that we can't follow them?" That boggled my mind and didn't make any sense to me at first. Why would God do that? Why would He give us something that we couldn't do? Then I realized it was so that we would realize that we couldn't do it... not without Him. We NEED Him! We can't follow them without His help. He tells us that He will write His laws on our hearts and give us the desire to do the right thing. As my pastor continued on I realized more and more how much I acted as if it all depended on me. Every time I failed...every time I sinned...every time I stumbled I would be over come with guilt and fear. Always thinking that if I couldn't get this right that God would give up on me. EVERYTHING depended on me and how obedient I was. Through this sermon though I realized that I have to let go. I have to allow God to lead me, forgive me, and free me. I hope that I can continue to learn and grow, and one day have a real true relationship with Christ.