The Best Ever!!!

There has been a lot of TV watching at our place the last couple of weeks due to the wall-to-wall Olympic coverage. We have even temporarily lifted the usual "before school TV ban" to watch those early morning events. With all the coverage comes the endless commercials. Some are "Gillette fusion"

clever (the Bell beavers), some are cool (the weird water/metallic dripping off the vehicles on the fashion runway), some are silly (Ronald McDonald ski jumping), some inspiring (the child athletes with famous athlete's voice-overs), and some are just the same old stuff you always see trying to sell product. See - I told you we have been watching too much TV!

Anyway, the one I'm talking about is one of those generic "say your product is the best" ads. The first time my 6 year-old son Dawson saw the Gillette Fusion commercial, he turned to me and said with wide eyes, "Dad - did you hear that?!! You've gotta get it - they just said it will give you 'the best shave ever'!!!". He was completely serious. I'm sure if he had stubble, he would have walked right out the door to the nearest store to pick up this product. Now, I have nothing against Gillette - in fact I use one of their older products, but how many things claim to be "the best"? How many products make claims that they cannot follow through on? I have a cousin who bought an electric razor because it promised a shave as close as a blade or your money back. He got his money back. It could not deliver on the promise to shave as close as a blade. It was not as good.

So what is this all about? I'm just trying to get us thinking about promises, new things, and what is really the best for us. No, I'm not endorsing a particular razor, electric shaver, or your local barber - I'm endorsing something that is billed as the best ever - a new, better, superior way of living.

The book of Hebrews repeatedly shows that Jesus came to establish a new and superior covenant with God's creation. Hebrews 11 lists a number of people, centering them out for their faith while under the old covenant. However, it was still not perfect. They were only saved based on their faith retroactively under the new covenant. "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect." (Heb. 11:39,40)

The old way was not sufficient. "The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God." (Heb. 7:18,19)

We needed something else. "If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come?" (Heb. 7:11)

So what is the difference between the old and the new? What makes the new way superior? "Therefore he (Christ) is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need - one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever." (Heb. 7:25-28)

Now we have been promised a better way, the only way (John 14:6), a superior way. "But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises." (Heb. 8:6)

And how do we know this? How can we be sure of these promises? What is the guarantee? "Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant." (Heb. 7:22)

I love the feel of a good close shave. It feels soft and smooth, then you slap the after shave on and you feel clean and refreshed. That is what the blood of Jesus does to our lives. It removes the "stubble" of sin in our lives, it cleanses us, it refreshes us, His blood frees us.

I am not sure if I have had the best shave ever, but I know that Jesus has provided the best life ever, and I plan on continuing to live in Him. Now that is an advertisement worth paying attention to. That is something that I could endorse! Would you consider doing the same? Do it with that same child-like faith exhibited by my son, accepting God's word that it is indeed - "the best ever!!!"