Reading Reflection:

Hoping for Something Better, Nancy Guthrie (Saltriver, 2007) I just started reading this book by Guthrie. It is designed to be used as a woman’s Bible study on the book of Hebrews (A 10-week study. There is no way I could cover Hebrews in 10 weeks, so this is something I need to read to believe!). It just so happens that I will be teaching a women’s Bible Study on the book of Hebrews in a couple of months. I already have some great resources, but have been interested in reading Guthrie, as I know that she has a very Christ-centered approach to Scripture, and I wanted to get a woman’s touch. So be prepared to be saturated with Hebrews over the next several months. I am sure there will be many reflections from this wonderful sermon offered to us in Scripture. Guthrie’s 1^st chapter is titled, what is God saying to you? She offers many great teaching points that the opening verses of Hebrews flood us with (Which will be a huge challenge for me—vs. 1-3 could easily take up a whole lesson, right?). There was much in this chapter to reflect on, but her very last sentence (p. 20), which she repeats in bold, says it all: Jesus is everything God wants to say to us. Just think about that statement. It is so simple, yet inexhaustible.  Just in the first chapter of Hebrews, Guthrie’s subtitles concur that Jesus is God’s beloved Son, the appointed heir, the universe creator, the radiant glory, the exact representation, the powerful sustainer, the sin purifier, the seated ruler, the angel’s authority, and the enemy defeater. How could we look to anyone else? And here’s the crazy part: he loves us, who were his enemies. How could we not be compelled to worship Jesus the Christ? How would we not want to learn as much as we possibly can about him (and, by the way, that is theology!)? Who would not want to know their Redeemer God at the deepest level possible? Why would we put something (Someone) like this off? Jesus is everything God wants to say to us! He is proclaimed in the Holy Word of God. Do you love his Word? Do you study it and meditate over it? Do you put yourself under the preaching of it? Are you jealous over the correct teaching of it? Do you see Christ on every page? Does his Word lead you to prayer and worship? Do you want to tell others about it? How is your relationship with Christ?