January 11 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).

Devotional

See him bearing our sicknesses and our sorrows; more than this, carrying our iniquities and our sins. Do not imagine that your path is an isolated one. The incarnate God has walked it before you, and he can give you the clear eye of faith to see his footprint in every step.

Jesus can say—and he does say to you—"I know your sorrow; I know what that cross is, for I have carried it. You do not have a burden that I did not bear, nor a sorrow that I did not feel, nor a pain that I did not endure, nor a path that I did not walk, nor a tear that I did not shed, nor a cloud that did not shade my spirit, before you, and for you.

Is it bodily weakness? I once walked forty miles, to carry the living water to a poor sinner at Samaria.

Is it the sorrow of bereavement? I wept at the grave of my friend, although I knew that I was about to recall the loved one back again to life.

Is it the frailty and the fickleness of human friendship? I stood by and heard my person denied by lips that once spoke kindly to me; lips now renouncing me with an oath that once vowed affection unto death.

Is it difficulty of circumstance, the galling sense of dependence? I was no stranger to poverty, and was often nourished and sustained by the charity of others.

Is it that you are houseless and friendless? So was I. The foxes have their shelter, and the birds their nests; but I, though Lord of all, had nowhere to lay my head; and often day after day passed away, and no soothing accents of friendship fell upon my ear.

Is it the burden of sin? Even that I bore in its accumulated and tremendous weight when I hung accursed upon the tree."

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea,
a great high Priest whose Name is Love
who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on his hands.
My name is written on his heart.
I know that while in Heaven he stands
no tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
and tells me of the guilt within,
upward I look and see him there
who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
my sinful soul is counted free.
for God the just is satisfied
to look on him and pardon me.

Behold him there the risen Lamb,
my perfect spotless righteousness,
the great unchangeable I AM,
the King of glory and of grace.
United to him I can't die.
my soul is purchased by his blood,
my life is hid with Christ on high,
with Christ my Savior and my God!

(Charitie L. Bancroft, 1863; stanza 3 alt. by LEW, 2006)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2025.