So Great a Salvation

I opened my bible this morning to Psalm 8:3-6 (NIV).

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor, You have given them dominion over the works of your hands, you have put all things under their feet,"

I can't help but share this bit of self-awareness: it was not until the recent tragedy of the sudden death of a child that I was compelled to immerse myself so intentionally into scripture again. A sermon last Sunday began my quest, but life "got in the way" all to easily and it didn't last as it should have. This is not to say that something good comes from tragedy, but it has, admitedly, sent me back to the Word.

I lost my place--my bible closed--when I got up to get coffee and opened "randomly" to Hebrews chapter 2.

"Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the message declared through angels was valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty, how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" Then, down the page, verse 6 quotes Psalm 8:3-6! I'm hard-headed but I can take a hint!

Somehow for me this all ties together as I try to make sense out of a crazy, angry, mixed up, fallen and violent world, and then a more "personal" tragedy. God created us for His pleasure. Perhaps God wanted the child who died in this world with Him in heaven. I don't understand it - will never be able to comprehend. But these verses give me a glimmer of peace and comfort of the certainty of God's love and desire for each of us. And that He is the one in control!

Hebrews 2:18 (NIV) assures us, "Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested."

I know that I have been reminded to "pay greater attention to what [I] have heard so that [I] do not drift away from it."

Blessings on your journey,
Mary