One of the most powerful passages in scripture is Galatians 4:7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. When Christ died on the cross for us and we accepted His gift of salvation, we were no longer slaves to the law and working to be good in His eyes. We must never take this truth for granted.

I love Peter’s description of Jesus in verse 11, Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ The capstone unites two sides of an arch. Without Jesus, there would be no church because there would be nothing to unite the old and the new.

In today’s reading, the number 666 is revealed. It was interesting to read the notes in my Bible and the many interpretations of why this represents the number of the beast. The most intriguing was that if 777 represents the number of perfection, then 666 would in turn represent falling short of perfection. This is a great lesson to us all and expresses our need for a savior who bridges the gap where we fall short of a relationship with Him.