This comes from Hebrews 4:
14Therefore, since we have a great (Z)high priest who has (AA)passed through the heavens, Jesus (AB)the Son of God, let us hold fast our (AC)confession.
15For we do not have (AD)a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been (AE)tempted in all things as we are, yet (AF)without sin.
16Therefore let us (AG)draw near with (AH)confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
My pastor has been talking about this very thing. When Jesus came to earth, He was all man and all God. However, He chose to live as a common man among other commoners. He could have set the stage so that He did not have to endure hardship or pain, but He chose to live life as we live it. He needed to experience pain, rejection, hardship, financial difficulty, temptation, abandonment, hurt and misery. After He was baptized, He immediately went into the desert to be tempted by Satan. Notice the word “tempted.” He actually experienced that. Just because He was God did not mean He still did not have to make right choice. He could have killed Satan right there and bypassed the cross, but He didn’t. Sometimes it’s easy to believe that He doesn’t understand our hurt, but He does. What have you gone through that He has not? The scriptures say that He causes all things to work together for our good if we love Him.
I know that I’ve made some bad choices and some good ones too. But I choose to believe that even though my bad choices seem pointless, that they were not. I learned things from every one of those experiences. Try to extract the lessons from each experience you go through. It will change your outlook and perspective. If Jesus could do it, we can too.
Kelly Medders said,
June 14, 2010 @ 5:02 pm
It seems to me that if I fail to learn from my mistakes it is more of a waste than the original mistake was to start with. Jesus knows we are human and will make mistakes and may even “sin” gasp. The issue of making a mistake is not in question, we will, but do we really have to keep on making the same mistake over and over? There is definately forgiveness through Jesus, but beyond that there is grace (God’s ability) for us to change.