Hebrews 12:1-2a In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,…
If someone were to ask you what the primary purpose of prophets in the Old Testament was, what would your answer be? Looking at this verse, you might say they were raised up to speak what God wanted said. That’s true but that’s not getting to the heart of it.
Think of who they were speaking to; what they were saying; and why it was being said. The prophets were speaking to the Israelites – the descendents of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob. They were typically telling them to repent, come back to God and obey His commands. The reason these things were being said was two-fold: 1) They were God’s people and 2) They were not walking in His ways.
But there is so much more to it than that. God loved them and wanted them to love Him
in return. He wanted His people to be blessed not cursed. The fact that they were the children of Abraham was important, but the crux of the issue was how they lived their lives. Did they walk in His ways?
Now we have Jesus. He offers the opportunity, through faith in Him, to become God’s people to all mankind – not just the children of Israel. He provides the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Him so that they can walk in His ways and be His people. We need to understand that this is so much more than what we do on Sunday mornings. Our involvement with a local body of believers is merely the tip of the iceberg. It is the other 90% of our lives where we communicate our love – or lack of love – to our God.
We must grasp the fact that God’s desire now is the same as it was then. He wants His people to love Him – to walk in His ways – to reflect His glory. He wants the world to see His reflection in His people. In the Old Testament they were not born again. They still had to contend with their sinful natures. But we are new creatures in Christ Jesus. We
have such an advantage over them. While we still struggle with temptations and sin, we don’t have our old nature as a deck stacked against us. Let us re-commit ourselves to saying Yes to His Spirit and His word as they call us to live lives worthy of our God.
Don's Devotionals: Learning to love God 
I think this is so hard, though, Brother Don. I just bought a book that came out called “Radical Together: Unleashing the people of God for the purpose of God” by David Platt. It’s required reading in my Pauline Epistles class, and in the introduction, David states a sobering idea, “I am convinced that in the church we can – unknowingly and unintentionally – actually prevent God’s people from accomplishing God’s purpose.” The greatest struggle of my life right now is sharing the Gospel with those I am afraid will reject me if they do not receive the message. It’s so hard to balance the need of sharing the gospel and the correct time and context in which to share the gospel so that it has the greatest chance of being received by the hearer. I know it’s an idol in my life not to share my faith more boldly with everyone, but I’m trying to learn.