Sunday, March 15, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Hebrews 7-8
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 31
Key Verse
Hebrews 7:21 — “(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)”
Devotional Thought
Here on the third Sunday of March, with winter loosening its grip and the first hints of spring appearing, we are reminded that God delights in bringing new life out of what was old and fading. The book of Hebrews presents us with a priest named Melchisedec, the mysterious King of Salem who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. Long before Levi was born, before the law was given at Sinai, this priest stood as a picture of something better—a priesthood not based on ancestry or ritual, but on an endless life. The law that came later through Moses was good, but it was never meant to be final. It was a shadow, a pattern shown to Moses on the mount, pointing forward to a greater reality.
The writer of Hebrews makes a stunning declaration: the law made nothing perfect. That is not a dismissal of God’s commands but an honest admission that no system of rule-keeping can bridge the gap between a holy God and sinful humanity. The priests of old had to offer sacrifices daily, first for their own sins and then for the people’s. They were men with infirmities, and they died. Their ministry ended at the grave. But Jesus, our great High Priest after the order of Melchisedec, offered Himself once for all. He needeth not daily to repeat the sacrifice, because His offering was sufficient. He ever liveth to make intercession for us.
This is the better covenant, established upon better promises. God declares, “I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts.” No longer is obedience merely an external code carved in stone; it becomes an inward reality, the work of God’s Spirit within us. “I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” And the crowning promise: “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” Not because God forgets as we forget, but because the sacrifice of His Son has fully satisfied His justice. The old covenant is ready to vanish away, not because it was evil, but because it was incomplete. The new has come.
As we walk through these lengthening days of March, let us draw near to this unchanging Priest. Our circumstances shift like the weather—one day warm, the next cold; one day hopeful, the next grieving. But Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man. When we feel forgotten, like a broken vessel, as the psalmist describes, we have a High Priest who knows our frame and intercedes for us still.
Reflection
- The old covenant’s priests died and their ministry ended, but Jesus “continueth ever” and “ever liveth to make intercession” for you. How does knowing that His priesthood never pauses—not for sleep, not for death, not for distraction—change the way you approach Him in your daily struggles?
- God promises to write His laws on our hearts and to remember our sins no more. Is there a sin you keep rehearsing before God, refusing to believe it is truly forgiven? What would it look like to trust His promise and let it go?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, our great High Priest after the order of Melchisedec, we come to You with confidence because You ever live to intercede for us. You offered Yourself once for all, and by that single offering You have perfected forever those who are sanctified. We confess that we have too often trusted in our own efforts, our own righteousness, our own ability to make ourselves acceptable before You. Forgive us. Write Your law upon our hearts, we pray. Be to us a God, and make us Your people. Remember our sins no more, not because we deserve it, but because Your covenant is established upon better promises. We commit our spirits into Your hands, O Lord God of truth, for You have redeemed us. Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 31:1 — “In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.”