Scripture Focus (NKJV)
“For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.”
— Hebrews 9:16
Devotional
Some of us have learned how to live in freedom… but still think like we’re bound.
We’ve received truth. We’ve heard the Gospel. We believe that Jesus died for us and that we are forgiven. And yet, in our day-to-day lives, our thoughts don’t always reflect that reality. We still hesitate. We still question. We still carry pressure as if everything depends on us.
It shows up in small ways.
We second-guess ourselves after we’ve already prayed.
We feel the need to “make up” for something we’ve already asked forgiveness for.
We approach God carefully, instead of confidently.
And without realizing it, we are living with a new covenant… but an old mindset.
Hebrews 9 begins to unfold why this matters.
The writer explains that a covenant is not fully in effect until there has been a death. In other words, what Jesus established through His sacrifice is not a continuation of the old system—it is the beginning of something entirely new. The old way of relating to God, the old structure, the old approach, all of it has been fulfilled and replaced.
But even though the covenant has changed, our thinking often hasn’t.
And that’s where the tension lives.
Because it is possible to have access to something new, while still thinking like you are under something old.
I remember realizing this in a quiet moment when I noticed how I was approaching God. I wasn’t avoiding Him, but I wasn’t coming freely either. There was a subtle hesitation, a quiet feeling that I needed to be more “together” before I fully leaned in. And when I slowed down and really paid attention, I recognized that it wasn’t about what God had done—it was about how I was still thinking.
I was relating to Him as if I still needed to earn something that had already been given.
That realization was convicting, but also freeing.
Because it meant the issue wasn’t distance.
It was mindset.
For those of us in healthcare training, this makes sense.
We are trained to think in systems of cause and effect. If we perform well, we progress. If we fall short, we correct and try again. That pattern becomes so normal that we begin to apply it everywhere, even in places it no longer belongs.
But the new covenant does not operate that way.
It is not based on repeated effort.
It is based on a finished work.
And that means our thinking has to shift.
We cannot continue to approach God as if we are still trying to qualify ourselves. We cannot continue to carry pressure that Christ has already removed. We cannot live as though everything still depends on us when the foundation has already been laid by Him.
Transformation is not just about what God has done.
It is also about how we begin to think differently because of it.
You cannot fully live in the freedom of a new covenant while holding onto the mindset of an old one.
And this is where growth becomes very intentional.
We begin to notice our thoughts.
We begin to challenge what doesn’t align with truth.
We begin to remind ourselves of what has already been established.
Not perfectly.
But consistently.
Because over time, as our thinking aligns with truth, our experience begins to reflect it.
And we start to live differently—not because we are trying harder, but because we are seeing clearly.
Reflection Questions
In what ways might we still be thinking as though we need to earn or maintain what God has already secured?
Are there areas where we approach God with hesitation instead of confidence?
What old patterns of thinking might God be inviting us to release?
Application
Today, pay attention to your thoughts, especially in moments where you feel pressure, guilt, or hesitation in your relationship with God. When you notice those thoughts, pause and ask yourself if they align with the truth of the new covenant. Replace them with what you know to be true about what Christ has already done.
Prayer
Lord, help us to recognize where our thinking has not yet aligned with the truth of what You have done. Teach us to release old mindsets that no longer apply and to begin thinking in a way that reflects the freedom You have given us. Renew our minds so that we can fully walk in the new covenant You have established.
Amen.