Therefore, it was necessary for Jesus to be in every respect like his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High priest before God. (Verse 17)
Community Policing was the leading buzz word in police administration during the early 1990’S. Explosive population growth in many communities increased the demand for police services in a time when a downward spiral in our nation’s economy produced tight governmental budgets. Overtaxed officers were running from one call to another gradually losing the face-to-face personal relationships vital to successful police operations. Sadly, this enhanced the “us vs. them” mentality to the detriment of the officers and the citizens they served.
Enter community policing, which had been falsely labeled as an effort to turn officers into “social workers with guns.” Keying the shift in thinking from reactive to proactive policing was the time proven concept that the closer you were to your community the better you understood their public safety needs and concerns. This shift in focus required officers, at all levels, to develop ways to work smarter by prioritizing goals; learn to apply problem skills; and to maximize the use of limited resources. To facilitate more responsive and efficient service delivery officers were given training in public safety problem solving techniques; empowered and given the resources to deal with the public safety issues relating to their community assignments; and help accountable for their performance. Additional methods such as telephone and computer reporting of minor crimes were put in place and freed officers to focus on the more critical issues in their respective area assignments. For the first time in years, many officers felt they were given the chance to do “real police work!” The change is still ongoing and did not happen overnight, but the effort has restored positive community partnerships built upon the proven bedrocks of trust, integrity and communication.
Jesus, Immanuel, (God with us), became incarnate as man forgoing his rights as the Son of God to get closer to the people he served. He came to personally the central message of the Good News, so that all who would openly confess Him as their Lord would become his brothers and sisters restoring their relationship as children of God. Jesus came so that we could see that he experienced temptations and struggles as each of us. Jesus came so that through his glorious resurrection the powers of sin and death would be destroyed delivering us from fear into life eternal. Jesus came to reassure us that by trusting him we would find the strength and courage to overcome our earthly and spiritual struggles. Finally, Jesus came to become our personal High Priest before God, who offered himself as a living sacrifice for our salvation. Jesus does not want to be closer—he wants to be inseparable from us!
PAUSE FOR REFLECTION AND PRAYER
How close are you willing to let the Lamb of God get to you? He is alive and willing to enter into communion with your soul offering eternal safety and security.
Dear Jesus, have mercy on me a sinner and come into my life giving me your peace now and forever.