Day 313 

Ezekiel 20:1-49; Hebrews 9:11-28; Psalm 107:1-43; Proverbs 27:11

Reality Check

“For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.” – Hebrews 9:24

Most often when people say “reality set in,” they mean that a dream or inspiration crashed against a cold hard fact or that something caused them to see the world afresh and new. “I wasn’t fast enough to make the team.” “I held my child for the first time.” This creates a paradigm shift—when new, undeniable information permanently alters our understanding of life and/or the world forever.

Consider how that happened for the original followers of Jesus. Those Apostles saw Jesus die on the cross, saw Him raised from the dead, then saw Him ascend into heaven. Everything they knew and believed had to be reconsidered, including the Hebrew Scriptures, in light of these facts. This passage from Hebrews affirms that His sacrifice, His blood, is the ultimate price paid once and for all our sin. Jesus in heaven interceding for us makes all the difference.

People tend to associate reality with the tangible, physical world we can examine and prove through our senses. The spiritual seems vague and elusive. That is natural, but it is precisely backward. There comes a wonderful moment in Christian life when reality truly sets in—just as it did for those Apostles. The truest thing, the surest reality is Christ. His grace, His sacrifice, is sufficient. Everything else—our challenges, worries, joys, hopes, sorrows and sufferings—may then fall into its rightful place. When we feel overwhelmed, the cure is to come back to the ultimate assurance given in Jesus Christ. Now pray.

The Rev. Canon Tim Nunez
The Diocese of Central Florida
Orlando, FL