Like Us, for Us

Hi, and thanks for joining us for today's encouragement from the Our Daily Bread Devotional.

I'm Kirsten Holmberg, and I titled our reading, Like Us, For Us. Derek noticed his son didn't want to take off his shirt to swim and realized it was because he was self-conscious about a birthmark that covers parts of his chest, belly, and left arm. Determined to help his son, Derek underwent a lengthy and painful tattooing process to create an identical mark on his own body. Derek's love for his son reflects God's love for his sons and daughters. Because we, his children, have flesh and blood, Jesus became like us and took on a human form and shared in our humanity to free us from the power of death. He had to be made like us, fully human in every way, to make things right with God for us.

Derek wanted to help his son overcome his self-consciousness, and so he made himself like him. Jesus helped us overcome a far greater problem, slavery to death. He overcame it for us by making himself like us, bearing the consequence of our sin by dying in our place. Jesus' willingness to share in our humanity not only secured our right relationship with God, but enables us to trust him in our moments of struggle. When we face temptation and hardship, we can lean on him for strength and support because he is able to help.

Like a loving father, he understands and cares. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Hebrews, chapter 2, verses 10 through 18. In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he has suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says, I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters in the assembly.

I will sing your praises. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, he says, here am I and the children God has given me. Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity, so that by his death, he might break the power of him who holds the power of death, that is the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason, he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Let's pray. Thank you, Jesus, for taking on a human form to relate to us in our struggles and pay for our wrongdoings. We want to trust you more. It is in your name we pray. Amen. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.