One of my favorite verses to pray before I go out to preach is Hebrews 10:21-22a And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him.
In Hebrews 4:16 it says So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
I praise God for the freedom He gives us to come before Him with boldness and confidence in Jesus. I am so thankful that in Christ, there is now no condemnation and I don’t have to feel shame about who I’ve been because Jesus has set me free.
BUT…and that’s a big but! (I’ll spare the joke) But, I wonder if we don’t need a little healthy dose of embarrassment these days before our God. Yes, through the blood of Jesus and the power of His Spirit we have been given access to the very throne of God, but when we stand before His throne His holiness shines a light on the sinfulness of this world.
The priest Ezra, in the book of Ezra, declared before God: Ezra 9:6 My God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face toward you, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads and our guilt is as high as the heavens.
Just because God gives us access to His throne does not mean we allow sin to go unnoticed. In fact, the closer we get to, and the more we are in, the presence of God the more aware of our own sin and the sin of this world we should become.
Just because God gives us access to His throne does not mean we allow sin to go unnoticed. Click To TweetAs I look at our world today, I think we need a healthy dose of the same embarrassment Ezra had. And notice, he included himself in the iniquities of the world. “OUR iniquities,” he said.
We have access to God’s throne, but His throne is meant to transform sin from our lives! I want the kind of heart that Ezra had. One that comes confidently before God’s throne through Christ, but also one that comes contrite, confessing and renouncing the sin in my own life and in the world around.
May we seek God this day for forgiveness but also for His fullness of life to be evident in us!