Daily training led by our High Priest

Our daily lives are our training

All siblings must be strengthened and experience the Lord abundantly in their daily lives – even at home. The Lord has arranged every situation so that we may learn to draw closer to Him. Just because we have to work a lot does not mean that we cannot experience the Lord as much. External circumstances are no obstacle to this experience.

We often say, ‘If my circumstances were like so-and-so’s, I would be better able to overcome.’ But the Lord said, ‘Follow me!’ (John 21:22). When we compare ourselves with others, we no longer look to the High Priest.

We are not only trained in the assembly. The training takes place twenty-four hours a day – both in difficult situations and in everyday matters: the practice of remaining in fellowship with him at all times and listening to him. The Lord did not sit his disciples down in the synagogue and teach them, but took them out onto the road – quite unlike today. Today people go to Bible college, but they do not experience Christ as the Sacrifice.

The blessing does not come simply from attending many conferences, but from putting the Word we have heard into practice in our daily lives.

Christ is our role model

The Lord learnt to become High Priest through his daily life. He did not have to attend lectures. After the Lord had been in the Temple at the age of twelve, he learnt to be obedient to his parents (Luke 2:51). The last three and a half years of his life, in particular, were a time of training. He did not only learn obedience when he died on the cross (Hebrews 5:8).

Nor does it become any easier to overcome – the trials only increase. As with Abraham, the final test came when he was asked to sacrifice Isaac (cf. Genesis 22).

Today we are learning to rule

We want to reign as kings in the millennial kingdom. So we must learn today to reign – over the old self, sin, worldly desires and weakness. At the conference we are encouraged, but then comes the intensive training (Heb. 5:14). For intensive training, you need to eat a lot – just like in the Tour de France: outside of race times, they do little else but eat.

How often must we resist temptation and sin? These usually do not arise in the congregation, but in our daily lives. If we cannot rule over sin, how can we hope to rule in the coming Kingdom?

Jesus, the High Priest, leads us to perfection

The Epistle to the Hebrews emphasises completion. And that completion comes through the ministry of our High Priest. The fact that we still have time and that the Lord has not yet returned shows that we still have much to learn from the High Priest. The Lord is showing us ever more clearly what we are to overcome.

Merely knowing the word is a deception – may the Lord open our eyes to how we can apply his word in this situation. Until he returns, he wishes to continue to perfect us.