August 31- Acts 10:43

THE VERSE

To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
~Acts 10:43

THE THOUGHT

The Old Testament is bursting with Jesus. Throughout its pages, the cross echoes and beckons with whispered grace and shouted love. Every prophet points to Him; every promise finds its fulfillment in Him. He is the promised Son of David, the messianic King who delivers His people from sin's oppression. He is the fulfiller of every promise of forgiveness, the one who makes God's mercy possible.

"Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered," David sang in Psalm 32, and Jesus is the one who covered those sins with His atoning blood. Apart from the cross, our sins would stand uncovered and condemned before the Judge of the universe, but because of Jesus we can join David's song, "Blessed is the man against whom thre LORD counts no iniquity."

Every prophet looked forward to the promised Savior. From Isaiah's famous prophecy of the Man of Sorrows, upon whom the Lord has laid all our iniquities, to Jeremiah's promise of the new covenant, when God would write His law on the hearts of His people and forget their sin because of Jesus' blood, to Ezekiel's vision of the Good Shepherd who would rescue His sheep, to Zephaniah's celebration of God's love song over His forgiven people, every page of Scripture beats with the pulse of the gospel. Read today's Extended Readings to get a glimpse at Jesus throughout the pages of the Old Testament.

THE PRAYER

Jesus, You are the same yesterday, today, and forever, and forever I will sing Your praise. From eternity past You promised, in history You worked out my salvation, and forever You will pour out the riches of Your everlasting grace on me. Thank you for Your great love, shining off the pages of Your Word, that saves and delights my soul.

EXTENDED READING

Psalm 32:1-2
Isaiah 53:3-6
Jeremiah 31:33-34
Ezekiel 34:11-12
Zephaniah 3:14-17

THE QUOTE

"Very often we are not looking for God; far from it, we are in full flight from Him, in high rebellion against Him. And He knows that and has taken that into account. He has followed us into our own darkness; there where we thought finally to escape Him, we run straight into His arms." ~Simon Tugwell